The principle of provenance serves as the foundation of the archival arrangement and description in the modem archival administration. Nevertheless, the theory of this principle has so far lacked systematized expositions. This paper first introduces the principle of provenance and outlines the modernization process of contemporary archives, attempting to sketch out the basis and characteristic of rational analysis in Max Weber's theory of bureaucracy structure. According to Weber's theory, this paper intends to demonstrate the influences of the principle of provenance on the modem management of archives through comparing and analyzing different practices of archival arrangements and descriptions ill the historical development. This study proposes the suggestion of adopting a gradually advancing mode to manage the archives so as to verify both the theoretical and the practical dimensions of the application of the principle of provenance.