An official in the late Qing Dynasty, born as a scholar, a government-run businessman, a comprador, a representative of the Westernization School, a famous politician, entrepreneur and philanthropist, was known as "the father of China industry", "the father of China commerce" and "the father of China higher education".
He is enthusiastic about public welfare, actively provides disaster relief, and creatively dredges Xiaoqing River in Shandong by means of work-for-relief. Sheng Xuanhuai had a legendary life and made great achievements. He founded many pioneering undertakings, involving ships, telegrams, railways, steel, banking, textiles, education, etc., which had a great influence and became famous at home and abroad.
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Sheng Xuanhuai is probably the most controversial figure in the modern history of China. He was known as "the father of modern enterprises in China" and was scorned as "feudal comprador bureaucrat".
During Zhu's life, many enterprises in modern China were related to this, such as China Maritime Bureau, General Administration of Telegraph, Trade Bank, Hanyeping Company and the construction of Luhan Railway. Sheng Xuanhuai's investment in education and charity is unmatched by others.
For example, Jiao Tong University and Beiyang University (now Tianjin University) founded by him are still famous schools, and the China Red Cross also advocated the establishment, which made great contributions to the disaster relief in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China.
Jing Yuanshan, an industrialist and philanthropist in the late Qing Dynasty, satirized Sheng Xuanhuai for "catching sixteen night pearls in one hand", which shows the prosperity of Sheng's enterprises in those years. Zuo Shunsheng, a modern scholar, commented that Sheng Xuanhuai was "engaged in all aspects of construction, far beyond the reach of Li (Hong Zhang) and Zhang (Cave Dwelling)".
Sheng Xuanhuai entered Li Hongzhang's door in his early years, and Li warned him that "to do great things, be a big official first". Under the experience of Li Mu, Sheng Xuanhuai became a master of theft because of his insight into human nature, insight into people's hearts, familiarity with the way of the world and understanding the hidden rules in Confucian society.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Sheng Xuanhuai