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.