314. Benjamin Franklin Told German Should Learn the Art of Fire Management From China

In Benjamin Franklin's eyes, the Germans are "very ingenious in the management of fire." However, the Germans should learn from the Chinese in this area. On August 28, 1785, Franklin who was at the sea wrote a letter to Jan Ingenhousz, in the following please enjoy the quote from the letter: In Germany you are happy in the Use of Stoves which saves Fuel wonderfully: Your People are very ingenious in the Management of Fire; but they may still learn something in that Art from the Chinese, whose Country being greatly populous and fully cultivated, has little room left for the Growth of Wood, and having not much other Fuel that is good, have been forc’d upon many Inventions during a Course of Ages, for making a little Fire go as far as possible. The above quote shows that Franklin realized that the Chinese made their efforts to protect the environment by preventing trees from being cut down. The above paragraph also reminds me of that We should deepen our understanding of Franklin Stove's significance. We usually talk about the fact that Franklin invented his stove for the purpose of warming houses in the cold winters for the colonists in the Northeast of North America. However, Franklin had a more important agenda in his mind when he borrowed technologies from China to created his stove. Franklin wanted to save trees in order to preserve environment.

313. Ginseng and the Founders' Efforts to Maintain Independence

One day in the mid-seventeenth century some Chinese soldiers of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) started to build a Willow Palisade along the entire south boundary of Northeast China. The Willow Palisade was built under the order of Emperor Shunzhi (1644-1661) to discourage Ginseng diggers from other parts of China to search for Ginseng in the region. Emperor Shunzhi and his soldiers never thought that their action had an impact on the effort of the United States to win a place in international trade. After seven years of severe fighting against the British Empire, the colonists in the North America won their formal independence. In 1783 the British signed the Treaty of Pariswith the colonial representatives. The colonists celebrated and enjoyed their hard won victory. However, the hilarious feeling of victory was quickly shadowed by economic difficulties. The economy did not go along with the political victory, but marched towards the opposite direction. Depression and inflation seemed to grab the happy feeling away from the founding fathers and the fighters of the Revolutionary War. Britain, which had just lost the war, was trying hard to win the colonists over through economic coercion. All old trade routes were forced to close to the Americans. Britain adopted the strategy of seeking to put enough economic pressure on individual states to force them, one by one, to “return to Mother England.” Please read Dr. Dave Wang's Paper, Ginseng: the Herb that Helped the United States to Enter International Commerce

312. David Brooks, Chinese Brands and the China Trade

China brands have been popular in North America. However, I was surprised when I read David Brook’s article, The Romantic Advantage, in New York Times, May 31, 2013. According to David, 94 percent of Americans cannot name even a single brand from China, the world’s second-largest economy. David forgot the basic fact that Chinese brands were well-known in North America even before the United States was established. It is difficult to figure out the percentage about the Americans who could name how many brands from China during the founding era of the United States. However, it is safe to say that Chinese products were very attractive to the Americans in the 18th century. The founders and the revolutionary veterans certainly knew products from China were widely welcomed when they sent to China the first commercial ship, The Empress of China, on February 22, 1784. The fact that the Chinese goods brought back by the ship were sold out quickly proves the above statement.

311. What the U.S. Can Learn from China

As an indicator demonstrating the influence of Dr. Dave Wang’s study of the founders’ efforts to draw nourishments from Chinese civilization on other writers and historians, some important works have quoted Dr. Wang’s publications. Ann Lee and Ian Bremmer, What the U.S. Can Learn from China: An Open-Minded Guide to Treating Our Greatest Competitor as Our Greatest Teacher (Berrett-Koehler Publisher, Inc. San Francisco, 2012) Quoted Dr. Wang's paper, “How China helped shape American culture" Virginia Review of Asian Studies.

310. From History Education Council of Hawaii

I would like to quote the following statement from Mr. Jeffrey Bingham Mead, the President of History Education Council of Hawaii State, “We'd like to call to your attention the pioneering research and writings of History Education Hawaii director, Dr. Dave Wang. His research has opened fresh eyes to something long neglected in the founding of the United States of America: the influence of Chinese civilization on the American Founders. From one of his blogs dated June 28, 2012: “It seems a historical irony that China, the ancient and far away empire, also had an impact on the founding of the United States. Military support from France was one of the key factors in the colonists’ victory in the American Revolutionary War. One reason the French royal court fought the British in North America was to prevent a British from monopoly of trade with China.” We invite you to visit his blog site The U. S .Founders and China today and everyday.

309. Joint Efforts Started by the Founding Fathers

February 22, 1784 was an important day in United States history. On that day the Empress of China sailed off the New York Harbor for Canton, China. The owners of the ship who were also founding fathers of the United States were aboard for the run to Sandy Hook. The ship exchanged salutes with harbor batteries when she sailed down the bay. The Empress of China served as a vivid symbol of the great cooperation in American history. This cooper-sheathed ship was built in Baltimore and financed in Philadelphia; the business manager was from Boston. The ship started her adventure at New York. The united efforts behind the great sail tell a great story of the United States, which waged its heroic struggle to rise above the economic blockage by the British. Clearly, without this great cooperation among the newly indepedent states, it was unthinkable for her great success.

308. Dr. Dave Wang's Readers all Over the World

This blog, that introduces Dr. Dave Wang's research in the field of Chinese cultural influence on the early history of the United States, has attracted readers all over the world. We often find readers from a country people rarely heard of. However, most of the readers are from North America, including the United States and Canada, all countries in Europe and Asia, such as China, Japan South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and others. We also find readers from courtiers in Africa and Latin America. In the following you will find the top ten countries that main readers are from. You can also find the percentage of readers from a specific country. 01. United States (54.7%), 02. Germany (10.1%), 03. Poland (6.8%), 04. Russia (4.6%), 05. France (3.1%), 06. United Kingdom (2.0%), 07. Netherlands (1.5%), 08. China (1.2%), 09. Ukraine (1.1%) 10. Italy(1%). All other countries account for (15%).