510. Benjamin Franklin and Chinese Statistics System

Only three years prior to the formal Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin, who had expressed his dissatisfaction with the British management of the colonies, worked to create an improved and more efficient management. In 1773, Benjamin Franklin expressed that he was deeply impressed by the effectiveness of the statistics system of the Chinese Imperial Court. He recorded in detail how local officials collected economic information and reported to the imperial court. From his letter to ThomasPercival, we know that Franklin learned that the Chinese provincial authority held accurate information on the population and the “Quantities of Provision produc’d.” The provincial authority then reported this information to China’s imperial court; in order that the imperial ministers “can thence foresee a Scarcity likely to happen in any Province, and from what Province it can best be supply’d in good time.” He then gave a detailed description of how the local officials had obtained farmers’ household information: “each House is furnish’d with a little Board to be hung without the Door during a certain time each Year, on which Board, is marked certain Words, against which the Inhabitant is to mark Number or Quantity.”

More discussion on the issue can be found from the article below: 

 

509. Dr. Dave Wang's Research Has Become More Popular

I just browsed the web and find the following information through which one can find influence of Dr. Dave Wang's research in the field of Chinese cultural influence on the United States.


Firstly, I will bring you to the very powerful book, Smithsonian Stories: Chronicle of a Golden Age, 1964-1984, written by Dr. Wilton Dillon, the famous cultural anthropologist in the world introduced Dr. Dave Wang and his research to his readers.  Next, you will find that the prestigious George Washington University is promoting Dr. Dave Wang's paper, Benjamin Franklin and Chinese Civilization. Thirdly, Culture Open Asia,  a new site on Asian culture and the world, reveals that not many people know about Chinese cultural influence on the United States. The site has been amazed by Benjamin Franklin's study of Confucian moral philosophy. Finally, it is very interesting that Northwest Times reported Dr. Dave Wang's speech Valparaiso University.

508 Dr. Dave Wang's Research Cited

We have found that Dr. Dave Wang's examination of Chinese cultural influence on the United States have been cited by various publications. I have found a website cited his study of Benjamin Franklin's love of China.

According to the owners of the site, they wanted to use the website to "share and spread vibrant cultural news that are unfolding the charms of the Culture Cities of East Asia." In the follow please enjoy the quote from the article, Confucius, the light of the enlightenment

According to Dr. Dave Wang, Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the US and the face of the 100 dollar bill, wrote an essay eulogizing the moral philosophy of Confucius in the paper that he owned, The Pennsylvania Gazette. As well as this, in a letter he wrote to George Whitefield, in 1747, he made the shocking confession that “Confucius was my example. I followed Confucius.”
H. G. Creel, a late professor of Sinology at the University of Chicago, explained that Thomas Jefferson was also greatly influenced by Confucius and China. He said that the implementation of the public education system that the theorist of US democracy and drafter of the Declaration of Independence devoted his whole life to was inspired by Confucius and China.

507.Benjamin Franklin and Confucian Merit System

During the 1780s, the founders of the young American republic faced the tremendous challenge of creating a stable political system to preserve their hard-earned national independence. Soon after the conclusion of the War for Independence, the Founding Fathers realized that the election of capable public servants would be one of the major factors that determined the destiny of their new nation. Many of the founders believed that the ideal government official would not only have a strong educational background, but also display exemplary moral virtue.[1]

However, this sentiment was not shared by all citizens; in particular, some veterans of the War for Independence sought to establish certain systems that would enable them to pass their honors to their descendants. In 1783, these veterans organized the Society of Cincinnati to counter the prevailing beliefs of the founders.[2] Benjamin Franklin expressed uneasiness with the Society’s desire to mimic the European hereditary tradition by forming “an order of hereditary knights.”[3] Franklin wrote,

My Opinion of the Institution cannot be of much Importance. I only wonder that when the united Wisdom of our Nation had, in the Articles of Confederation, manifested their Dislike of establishing Ranks of Nobility, by Authority either of the Congress or of any particular State, a Number of private Persons should think proper to distinguish themselves and their Posterity from their Fellow Citizens, and form an Order of hereditary Knights, in direct Opposition to the solemnly declared Sense of their Country.[4]

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[1] U.S. Office of Personnel Management https://archive.opm.gov/about_opm/tr/history.asp

[2] http://www.societyofthecincinnati.org/

[3] Benjamin Franklin, To Sarah Bache (unpublished), Passy, January, 26^th, 1784. It is available on line at http://franklinpapers.org

[4] Ibid.

506. Dr. Dave Wang's Post in this Blog Has Been Translated Into Spanish

El tiempo vuela. Va a ser el cuarto año antes de que comencé este blog, para presentarle el estudio del Dr. David Wang de los Padres Fundadores de Estados Unidos y China. He encontrado que sus publicaciones y discursos sobre los esfuerzos de los padres fundadores para sacar alimento de la cultura china para construir una nueva nación se están volviendo más y más popular. Por ejemplo, sólo tiene que teclear "Benjamin Franklin y China" en google, usted puede encontrar siguiente 21 anuncios, ya sea la promoción o la introducción de su investigación sobre las actitudes de Benjamin Franklin hacia la civilización china.

 Antes de disfrutar de los listados, quiero contarles una historia. No hace mucho, un amigo mío, me dijo: "Hermano, yo de hecho haber aprendido mucho de su weblog muy contundente y esclarecedor sobre los esfuerzos de los padres fundadores de utilizar la cultura china para construir una nueva nación en América del Norte. ¿Qué hay de China ¿sistema político?" Esta es una pregunta muy interesante. Le dije, "Los padres fundadores aprenderían nada de valor a sus esfuerzos. En esa parte, no tenían la ideología en su mente. Sin embargo, no querían a recoger algo que no es útil para su propósito de construir un fuerte de la sociedad en el Nuevo Mundo. "No sé si mi respuesta a su pregunta es suficiente. Si alguien tiene una mejor respuesta, por favor no dude en hacérmelo saber. Para ayudar a los demás es nuestro placer.

505 The US Dosn't Understand Chinese Thought, Really?

Mr. Jeffrey Bingham Mead, the President of History Education Council of Hawaii State, sent me an article yesterday, Why the US Doesn’t Understand Chinese Thought – and Must..The writer of this article says, as a scholar of Chinese philosophy, he believes it’s at least as important to understand how China thinks. I totally agree with him. More importantly, the main founders of the United States agreed with him when this country was established.

Its author is Bryan W. Van Norden. According to him that universities in the United States should teach Chinese civilization. Clearly, it is well understood that Americans need to understand Chinese ideas. However, readers of this blog and Dr. Dave Wang's publications have been fully aware of Chinese cultural influence on the founding of the United States. During the formative age of this nation, the founders, such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and others worked hard to borrow from Confucius moral principles in their efforts to start new virtue of the new nation.

504. George Washington University Promotes Dr. Dave Wang's Reserach

I have found that Dr. Dave Wang's academic research on Benjamin Franklin and Confucius has been promoted by the official Facebook page of the Confucius Institute at the George Washington University 乔治华盛顿大学孔子学院官方Facebook主页.