This Article first examines the root of the blockchain technology from the perspective of the historical development of modern cryptography. Foundations of the encryption，signature and independent access features of digital currencies could be found in developments in asymmetric cryptographic algorithm，which gave rise to new solutions to large-scale key distribution in open systems as well as distinctive verification functions，and hash algorithms，which brought benefits in rapid convergence，irreversibility and low energy consumption. Bitcoin successfully achieved the prevention of double spending in decentralized environments by integrating the Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism to a shared distributed ledger and thereby gave birth to the blockchain technology. The Article then moves on to analyze the blockchain technology from system architecture，accounting，account system，asset transaction，organizational behavior and economics perspectives，and identifies its main benefits （tamper-proof，open access，high data trustworthiness，high fault tolerance） and shortcomings （performance，privacy protection，security issues，lack of sound governance and low interoperability）. Last but not least，the Article looks at what blockchain would look like in the future in terms of consensus mechanism and performance，cross-chain interoperability，governance，identity management，privacy protection，digital wallet，smart contract and Decentralized Autonomous Corporation （DAC） models as well as blockchain’s interaction with other emerging technologies.