206. We Should Go Back To Franklin's Principle

Ms. Amy Chua, her book titled, “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” was opposed by David Brooks, whose article titled, “Amy Chua is a Wimp.” With this post by no means do I intend to disglory either the Tiger Mother or her opposer, David Brooks. In terms of educating younger generation, I like neither Ms. Chua nor Mr. David Brooks. I go for Benjamin Franklin's educational thinking. As co-president of the Chinese American Parents Association of Hunter College High School, arguably one of the top high schools in the world, I have something to say regarding this topic: I think that I can not fabricate anything better than Franklin's educational principle.

Franklin viewed virtue as a path to personal happiness and social utility. For Franklin, to be a virtuous person was so important that it decided what kind of life one wanted to live. In 1780, he told his grandson that there were only two kinds of people in the world: the people with virtue and the people without. He said that the people with virtue “are well dress’d and live comfortably in good houses,” and the people without virtue “are poor and dirty” He emphasized, “nothing so likely to make a man’s fortune as virtue.”

The message Franklin wanted to convey to his grandson was that his grandpa had good virtue and therefore could be rich and accumulated fortune, which allowed him to retire at the age of 42. By combining virtue with one’s future, Franklin told his grandson that if he wanted to “not live in miserable cabins” in his later life he need to start to cultivate his virtue at a young age. Franklin not only told his grandson to train his “good morals” himself but asked him to “recommend” the good morals to his friends when his grandson returned to the United States after his study in Swissland.

We can tell from the above that Franklin maintained that happiness and social utility should be goal of education. To reach this goal, one must cultivate one's virtue. Compared with Franklin's principle, we will find what's wrong with either Chua or Brooks. Chua could raise young people as successful individuals; however, they would have difficulties serving community. On the other side, Brooks could produce someone who wants to serve community but doesn't possess necessary knowledge on how to do so. No doubt, we should go back to Franklin's principle.

205. How Many Founding Fathers Knew of China?

January 2011 is very unique. It has five Mondays, five Saturdays and five Sundays. It is impossible for current people to meet a January like this one again because it will take 9841 years to have the same January.

It is the perfect time for my giving the answer to this question. Since the first day I read Dr. Dave Wang's blog, The U.S. Founding Fathers and China I have asked myself the question: How many founding fathers heard of China during the founding era of the United States? I read all his publications and found that only about handful of them.

To be honest, I almost fell out of chair when I heard Dr. Dave Wang's answer to the question. “Over a dozen.” “Wait a minute. Say it again. Over a dozen of United States founding fathers made their efforts to borrow positive elements from China. Could you tell me who they are?” I was totally blown off in this particular January.

According to Dr. Dave Wang's research we have found that the founding fathers demonstrated their efforts to use Chinese civilization as a resource to build the colonies into a new nation in North America. They are John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Rufs King, Richard Henry Lee, James Madison, James Monroe, Gouverneur Morris,  Robert Morris, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Rush and George Washington. I hope that Dr. Dave Wang can further enlighten us about what positive elements they used from Chinese culture to develop the United States.

204. Thomas Jefferson and Chinese Gong

Any information concerning the U.S. founding fathers and China can bring up curiosity. I put the words, "Jefferson and Chinese" in Google. Two of Dr. Dave Wang's papers, Thomas Jefferson and Chinese Architecture and Thomas Jefferson and Chinese Classics come out.

You can also find Thomas Jefferson and Chinese Flowers, which is an item of this blog. However, I surprisingly find Thomas Jefferson and Chinese Gong. I know that this Chinese Gong was a gift from Benjamin Franklin. However, as of today, I can not find where Franklin obtained this Chinese Gong. If you know, please let me know, then I will publish here, allowing all that who are interested in this matter know. I remember that even one of Franklin's descendants asked me about it last year.

203. Should I Agree totally with Professor Niall Ferguson?

Niall Ferguson, the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University and the William Ziegler Professor at Harvard Business School, was nominated by Time Magazine in 2004 as "one of the world's hundred most influential people.” He made a speech titled “Power, Money and American National Security, Today and Tomorrow” in Philadelphia where he was awarded the sixth annual Benjamin Franklin Public Service Award by the Foreign Policy Research Institute of Philadelphia.

He remarked in his speech that the West ascended through technological and science innovation. For him, this is the only factor that made the West more powerful. I don’t totally agree upon his opinion; based on my examination of United States founding fathers’ efforts to draw nourishments from Chinese civilization to build a new nation in North America, I have come to the conclusion that one of the reasons why the United States jumped from a tiny nation to a world superpower is that the founding fathers opened the door for Americans to adopt positive elements from other cultures, including those of Chinese civilization.

202. From Confucius to the Great Wall

The well-known online magazine, Huaren, published in its September issue, Dr. Wang's paper.
From Confucius to the Great Wall: Chinese Cultural Influence on Colonial North America

The spread of Chinese cultures into North America started with the efforts of the eminent colonists, such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, who were mainly responsible for broadening of Chinese civilization in North America. They used positive elements from the civilization to answer the economical, social and political issues in North America. Their efforts actually created a special pattern for integration of elements from other cultures into the main culture. By incorporating elements from Chinese culture into the European culture they carried over the Atlantic Ocean, the colonists took significant steps toward the creation of a civilization of their own. The remarkable story of the efforts to draw nourishments from Chinese culture has served as an excellent case study of the creation of a new civilization by adopting selected positive elements from other cultures and assimilating the elements into the main culture. The colonists’ efforts have provided us with an ideal way of dealing with other civilizations.

You can read the whole paper from this link.

201. Canton and Chinese Influence on the Early United States

Some cities in the United States named their cities Canton. You maybe not aware of it. However, anyone who is familiar with Chinese history knows that Canton is the American name of a Chinese city. It is called Guangzhou nowadays. How come Americans named their cities following the name of the Chinese city? Little surprise will arise for knowing the fact that Americans named their cities after British cities because of the obvious reason.

I have two possible answers in the following. According to what I heard, the cities were named by the Chinese. In the 18th century many Chinese coolies, who came to the United States by assuming manual labors in various places, did not intend to stay in the United States for good, but want home with dollars in several years. However, by no means, they could control their own destines in this land far away from home. They found that they, by no means, could cross the Pacific Ocean with the money in hands. As a result, they named the places where they had to stay Canton-the name of their home town.

However, I don't think that those Chinese coolies could give names to their adopted cities at their will. Probably, Canton was chosen by powerful American merchants, who made huge fortunes from the China Trade directly or indirectly.

It is a well-known fact that the first millionaire of the United States was made by the trade between China and the United States. If you want to know more about how the first generation of the citizens of this country made their huge fortune out of the China Trade, please make a trip to Northeast United Stats, also called New England.

I have found that it is a must for a person who is interested in learning the early trade relations between the United States and China to visit this area-a living museum on the relations between the two countries in the 18th century. I have to stop here, otherwise, some will assume that I collect commissions from the area. To be honest, I don't collect a single penny from New England. Please find more information on Canton of the United States and American founders from this link.

200. Dr. Wang's Published Works on the Founding Fathers and China

I have beaten up my brain to think about what I should put out with this post, a big milestone of this blog, aiming to introduce Dr. Wang's study of the founding fathers' efforts to borrow from Chinese civilization in their efforts to establish a new society and nation in North America. A good idea came from a friend, which is to introduce you the list of Dr. Wang's publications. In the following please enjoy the list:

22. Chinese Civilization and the Early Development of the United States, The Historical Review: A Biannual Journal of History and Archaeology, Vol. Indian Institute of Oriental Studies and Research, Kolkata, India. 2010
21. George Washington and the China Trade, Huaren E-Magazine (Australia) May, 2010,
20. Benjamin Franklin and Confucius Moral Philosophy, Huaren E-Magazine (Australia) January 2010,
19. How China Helped Shape American Culture: The Founding Fathers and Chinese Civilization, Virginia Review of Asian Studies 2010
18. Asian Dry Rice and Slaves’ Living Environment: Thomas Jefferson’s Efforts to Transplant the Rice to the United States, Huaren E-Magazine (Australia), September 2009.
17. Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Chinese Civilization, Virginia Review of Asian Studies 2009.
16. Presenting Benjamin Franklin and the Great Wall of China, CALA (Chinese American Librarians Association) Newsletter, Spring 2009.
15. George Washington and Chinese Flowers, Huaren E-Magazine (Australia) May 2009
14. With China We Trade, Asia Times (Hong Kong), March 11, 2009
13. Thomas Jefferson and Chinese Architecture, Huaren E-Magazine (Australia), January 2009, Chinese New Year Edition
12. All Posterity Will Remember My Legacy: Thomas Jefferson and a Legendary Chinese Prince, Huaren E-Magazine (Australia), September, 2008.
11. Benjamin Franklin’s Efforts to Promote Sericulture in North America, Franklin Gazette, Volume 18, No. 2, Summer 2008
10. The Founding Fathers of the United States and Chinese Porcelain Ware, Huaren E-Magazine (Australia), January, 2008.
09. Benjamin Franklin and the Great Wall of China, Franklin Gazette, Volume 18, Number 1, Spring 2008
08. The Founding Fathers of the United States and Chinese Civilization, in Trans/American, Trans/Oceanic, Trans/latioin, The 3rd International American Study Association (IASA) World Congress Proceedings, September, 2007.
07. Benjamin Franklin and Chinese Civilization, Reset Dialogue on Civilizations, Well-known European Website (Italy).
06. Tea, the Leaves that Triggered the American War for Independence, Huaren E-Magazine (Australia), September 2007
05. Ginseng, the Herb that Helped the United States to Enter International Commerce, Huren E-Magazine (Australia), May 2007
04. Exploring Benjamin Franklin’s Moral Life, Franklin Gazette, Volume. 17, No. 1, Spring 2007
03. Benjamin Franklin and Chinese Civilization, U.S –China Relation Series, No. 2, New York, Outer Sky Press, August 2006
02. Benjamin Franklin’s Attitude toward Chinese Civilization, Social Science Journal of Harbin Institute of Technology (China) , Issue 4, 2006
01. Benjamin Franklin and China: A Survey of Benjamin Franklin’s Efforts at Drawing Positive Elements from Chinese Civilization during the Formative Age of the United States, The Historical Review: A Biannual Journal of History and Archaeology, Vol. XIII, 2005, pp. 1-22, Indian Institute of Oriental Studies and Research, Kolkata, India.
The paper was elected by the National Commission for Benjamin Franklin’s Tercentenary Commission and published in its Official Website since 2005 (The commission is headed by Former President George W. Bush 2000-2008). It is available on line at http://www.benfranklin300.org/etc_essays.htm