He specifically mention the Swedes, not the Chinese. Even if someone conceived of such a thing somewhere in the distant past, you cant say hill, water, and wood meant hydroelectric power to Tolkien, when almost nobody even knew about such things at that time. The metaphor would be meaningless to literally everyone, hence it is not what he meant, obviously.

He specifically mention the Swedes, not the Chinese. Even if someone conceived of such a thing somewhere in the distant past, you cant say hill, water, and wood meant hydroelectric power to Tolkien, when nobody even knew about such things at that time. The metaphor would be meaningless to literally everyone, hence it is not what he meant, obviously.