In fact, lightning rods first appeared in China. According to Gu Liangzhuan, Zuo Zuozhuan, Huai Nanzi and other works, during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, lightning protection rooms were installed on buildings to prevent lightning strikes. Since the Song Dynasty, many buildings have different forms of "thunder columns". The four pillars of Zhenwuge in Guangxi have not landed, and the four pillars of the Confucian Temple in Deqing County have not stood in the sky. It's all because ancient architects built this hall.
1688, after traveling in China, French Macalian wrote a book called "New Things in China", in which he wrote: "... the four corners of the roof were carved into the shape of faucets, with their heads up and their mouths open. These monsters have a metal core on their tongues, and the end of this metal core goes all the way to the ground. If lightning strikes the house, it won't cause any danger. " This shows that the principle of lightning rod in China is the same as that of modern lightning rod. From the time point of view, Macalian came to China in 1688, 64 years earlier than Franklin's experiment, so the lightning rod should first appear in China. If we look at the appearance of lightning arresters in time, China had them in the Southern and Northern Dynasties.