476. The First US President Who Spoke Chinese

My readers might have noticed that the main founders of the United States loved China and its culture. They borrowed from China industrial technologies and agricultural plants to improve the society of North America. For them,  Chinese civilization was so charming and attractive that some of them event tried to learn Chinese.  With this post I would like to introduce you the first US president who spoke Chinese.

The 31^st president Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the first president who could speak fluent Chinese. It seems that he was born with some bonds with China. He was born in WestBranch, Iowa on August 10, 1874. It was the ninety years’ anniversary of the successful sail of the Empress of China, the first US commercial ship reached China's shore in August 1784.

Lou Henry, Hoover's wife and Hoover learned Chinese while they worked in China in the early 20th century. Some records show that they spoke Chinese at the White House when they prevented people from hearing what they talked about.  (David King, Herbert Hoover, Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish, ISBN 0-7614-3626-X). 

In the early years of the 20th century Hoover worked as an engineer in Kaiping Mine, Hebei Province of China. Chinese characters on the picture read "Kaiping Mine." 

475. Influence of Chinese Civilization on the Founders of the United States: Hawaii's Promotion of Dr. Dave Wang's Reserach

China's history is one of a proud, mysterious and ancient civilization. Over the past 150 years this nation's history has been marked by war, turmoil, famine, a decadent imperial ruling site, foreign conquerors, native warlords, a feudal past that has quickly transformed itself into a modern, global society. 

Among the historical mysteries of China something few on either side of the Pacific Ocean have realized until recently: the influence of Chinese civilization on the Founder of the United States of America in the 1700's. 

Dr. Dave Wang set out to explore and share his discoveries though his blog site The Founding Fathers and Chinese Civilization. 

His blog site explores "the cultural influence of traditional Chinese civilization on colonial North American and the early development of the United States." 

In 2012 Dr. Wang joined the Board of Directors of History Education Hawaii, Inc. 

 

Dr. Wang's pioneering research has earned him a distinguished international reputation. Selected published papers have been translated into international languages including Italian and Chinese. He is often invited to present his research findings to audiences around the world. 

"Certain Chinese products, such as tea, had become deeply involved in the colonies and became an indispensable element of colonists’ daily life. The British control of tea and the colonists’ struggle against this control changed the historical course of the colonies. The tax on tea and the resentment with the tea monopoly by the East Indian Company was one of the factors that led the colonists to rebel. Immediately before the successful 1784 sailing of the Empress of China, the first American commercial ship to reach China, the President of Yale College told George Washington, "Navigation will carry the America flag around the globe itself, and display the thirteen stripes and new constellation, at Bengal and Canton, on the Indus and Ganges, on the Whang-ho and the Yang-ti-king; and with commerce will import the wisdom and literature of the East."  

Posted by History Education Hawaii, Inc. at Wednesday, December 05, 2012 

474. Dr. Dave Wang's Findings Have Attracted Tremendous Attention

Dr. Dave Wang’s findings in the subject of the United Statesfounding fathers and Chinese Civilization have attracted tremendous attention in the academic world. Since 2007 Dr. Wang’s publications on traditionalChinese civilization and the United States have been recommended by the HistoryEducation Counsel of Hawaii State to be used as teaching texts in American History classrooms. This significant and clear endorsement indicates that his research has contributed to the education of younger generation in their studies of American history. In the following, you will find the statement from Mr. Jeffrey Mead, the President of History Education Counsel of Hawaii, allied with the National History Education Counsel: "Dr. Wang's research and publications are recommended for Hawaii's history classrooms and for historians and history buffs in general. His insights on Chinese influences on the Founding Fathers of the United States should spark curiosity and discussion.”