Sheng Xuanhuai was the driving force of China’s industrialization and modernization during the late Qing to early Republican period. New discoveries on this prominent figure and turbulent period can be obtained through a comprehensive examination of the ‘Sheng Xuanhuai archive’ at CUHK. The archive comprises 77 volumes with an estimated 7.5 million words in approximately 10,000 correspondences among Sheng Xuanhuai, his family members, and colleagues.