Sunday, March 26, 2017

488. An Exhibition of Franklin's Efforts at Drawing Positive Elements from Chinese Civilization



A lot of history in the study of the United States founders and China was found in March 2017. I just found out the poster: Benjamin Franklin and China: An Exhibition of Franklins Efforts at Drawing Positive Elements from Chinese Civilization during the Formative Age of the United States.
It was conducted when Dr. Dave Wang served as the Manager of Queens Library at Hollis from 2004 to 2011.

Through Dr. Dave Wang's consistent examination for over 10 years, it is clear that principal American founders, including Benjamin Franklin realized that it was of significance for American colonists to learn from Chinese civilization in order to build North America a flourishing society. In order to apply positive elements of Chinese civilization to solve social, economic and technological issues in North America, Franklin spent his time and energy to study and spread Chinese civilization in North America around the founding of the United States.  His efforts made great contributions to the formation of American civilization. Dr. Dave Wang's exhibition told its audience, with copies of the original documents given by friends from various museums and libraries. The display also included some prints from The Franklin's Paper, such as Franklin's correspondences, diaries and chapters from Franklin autobiography. Through the exhibition, a visitor should have basic conception on how Franklin tried to use Confucian moral principles to cultivate his own virtue, and how he applied Chinese technologies to improve the life quality of the residents in North America. No doubt, this exhibition has opened a new window to examine Benjamin Franklin, who had "the most eminent mind that that has ever existed in America."


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