160. Thomas Jefferson and Asian Dry Rice

Dr. Dave Wang surprised us with another good research paper on the influence of Chinese civilization on the life of Americans and their Presidents.

Thomas Jefferson pointed out, "The Greatest service which can be rendered any country is, to add a useful plant to its [Agri]culture, especially a bread grain."

While summarizing what he considered to be his greatest contribution to the world, Jefferson ranked his effort to introduce dry rice from East Asia into South Carolina in as high regard as his drafting of the Declaration of Independence. Why did he regard his effort to transplant the dry rice to the United State so high? You can find the answer from Dr. Wang's paper, Asian Dry Rice and the Slaves’ Living Environment: Thomas Jefferson’s Effort to Transplant the Rice to the United States His paper is available from this link.

159. Zoominfor Introduces Dr. Wang's Papers

I browse the web and find that Dr. Dave Wang's two publications, on U.S. China Trade and Chinese Cutlural Influence on the founding fathers, are available through this site

158. Asia-Studies Full Text

Asia-Studies Full-text Online, the premier database for the study of modern Asia-Pacific and the relations between Asian civilization and North America. As the exclusive licensee for the region’s most prestigious research institutions, Asia-Studies.com brings together thousands of full-text reports covering 55 countries on a multitude of business, government, economic, and social issues.

You can access Dr. Wang's paper, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Chinese Civilization from this site and through this link.

157. Presidents Obama, Clinton and Reagan on China and the United States

President Barack Obama stated, "Americans know the richness of China's history because it helped to shape the world and it helped to shape America. We know the talent of the Chinese people because they have helped to create this great country." His remarks at U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue on July 27, 2009 is available through this link.

President Bill Clinton pointed in 1997 that China has played an important role in our history. "In 1784, shortly after America's independence, the first American merchant ship landed in China. The Chinese officials knew we were not European, so they simply called us the 'new people.' And though we were unfamiliar, the Chinese allowed us to trade freely with them. So one of the oldest societies on Earth, China, extended the hand of friendship to the world's youngest nation." You can access his whole speech through this link.


Ronald Reagan pointed out in 1984 that "back in 1784, when the first American trading ship, the Empress of China, entered your waters, my country was unknown to you. We were a new republic, eager to win a place in international commerce." His whole speech is available throught this link.

Do I need to say anything? The above remarks from the three great presidents of the United States tell us two things at least. The first is that American people never forget the great help from China and the influence of Chinese culture on the development of the United States. In the meantime, they also demonstrate United States leaders inherit and carry down the great tradition established by the founding fathers with open mind to learn from other cultures. I remain that to draw nourishment from other cultures is one of the main reasons responsible for making the United States a great power in the world in such short period of time.

Welcome to further explore this weblog, in which you will find out how Chinese culture helped to shape the United States from its inception. I hope that you can give us your input on Dr. Wang's examination of the impact of the traditional Chinese culture on the United States.

156. Hawaii Historical Education Council Promotes Dr. Wang's Paper

History Education Council of Hawaii Honolulu, Hawaii, United States The History Education Council of Hawaii, Inc., is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit 501(C) 3 corporation serving the history learning community of the state of Hawaii. HECH promotes study, research, effective learning theories and innovative history teaching practices.

Word has reached us that Dr. Dave Wang of St. Johns University in New York had a paper, "Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Chinese Civilization" published in the online publication of the 2009 issue of the Virginia Review of Asian Studies. You can access the introduction to Dr. Wang's paper from this link.

155. Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Chinese Civilization

I am pleased to tell you that Dr. Wang's paper, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Chinese Civilization has been published in the online publication of the 2009 issue of the Virginia Review of Asian Studies. (This issue will appear on 2-3 further sites in due course and a small hardcopy version, primarily for libraries, will follow in the fall). You may access this article from this link.

According to Dr. Wang, the U.S. founding fathers with a great vision for this nation worked hard to draw positive elements from Chinese civilization during the formative age of the United States. Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson made their efforts to use the positive elements from Chinese civilization to build a new nation in North America. Benjamin Franklin promoted Confucian moral philosophy to North America in his effort to enhance his own and others’ virtue in North America. George Washington tried to grow Chinese flowers in his garden. Thomas Jefferson attempted to combine Chinese architectural style with the European style. The founding fathers’ efforts have produced great influence on the United States and become a valuable legacy.

VRAS (Virginia Review of Asian Studies) is the official journal of the Virginia Consortium for Asian Studies. As you probably know that VRAS is indexed in the annual bibliography of the Association for Asian Studies and www.asia-studies.com .

154. Thomas Jefferson and Chinese Architecture

At the 18th World History Assocation annual conference in Salem State College, Dr. Wang presented the topic, Thomas Jefferson and Chinese Architecture on June 28, 2009. In the following you will find the main content of his presentation. Jeffersonian Style has become a classical building style in the architectural history of the world. Today the Jeffersonian Style is still used and loved by architects. Since Thomas Jefferson created his Jeffersonian Style by incorporating Chinese architectural designs such as the railing below the dome and surrounding walkways, it has become popular throughout the history and the world. However, it was not primarily out of architectural reasons that Jefferson made this style. His building style was a symbolic of a newly formed society/nation trying to break free of its past. The virtual consensus among the founding generation of American statesmen was to “pursue a political destiny separate from Europe.” Jefferson, who believed that a building was not merely a walled structure, but a metaphor for American ideology, and the process of construction was equal to the task of building a nation, used his style as an effort to form the identity of North America. Jeffersonian Style expressed the American desire to break cultural and political ties to Europe.