Recently, a man of South Asian descent wrote to a newspaper stating, “It is true that civilization and technology came from the West.” By “the West” he meant Europe and North America. Such a statement is highly inaccurate, but sadly unsurprising in this day and age when the achievements of Europeans are taught to the world while the innovations of other nations remain in the shadows.
The irony is that this statement was made by an Asian. Many educated Asians know more about the history of Europe than they do about the history of Asia and the Pacific. Nevertheless, since ancient times, Asians have benefited from advances in technology in many fields and have been ahead of Europeans in various technological breakthroughs. Here are some examples of Asian firsts in science and technology:
Urban planning, architecture, and water supply
The pre-Aryan civilization of Harappa in India created the city of Mohenjo-Daro (dated between 3000 and 2500 BC). It was destroyed by the Aryans around 1500 BC, but the ruins of the city have survived to this day. The city was built on a grid plan with a main street. It took the Romans several thousand years to achieve this level of urban planning, and another millennium for municipal planning to reappear on earth. Homes in Harappa were two or more stories high, each house had a bathroom with a drain that carried waste to the sewer system under the main streets. Each house also had a garbage chute that carried garbage into small tunnels that led to the central sewer system. Even other highly developed civilizations of the time, such as Egypt and Sumer, did not achieve such standards of living.
Cambodians built the largest stone monument in the world
Angkor Wat, built by the Khmer people of Cambodia in the 12th century, has been called “the largest stone monument in the world.”
Southeast Asia’s water systems outpaced Venice
The Kingdom of Funan (3rd to 6th centuries CE), located in what is now southern Cambodia and Vietnam, used a complex network of aqueducts and canals to control annual floods and prevent seawater intrusion. This was several centuries earlier than the famous canals of Venice. By the 6th century, the neighboring Khmer kingdom of Chenla had a hydraulic system with canals 40 miles long. In the late 9th century, the Khmer built the huge artificial lake Indrathatka.
Book-printing technology
One of China’s most important contributions to world technological progress was the invention of paper. Chinese papermaking techniques transformed book printing in the Arab world during the Abbasid and Tang eras. The Arabs then transferred the technology to Europe, which benefited greatly from the use of paper.
Korea invented the world’s first movable metal typeface for printing, which was used by Koreans from at least 1234, and possibly earlier. This was at least two centuries before Gutenberg’s printing press in Europe. Wooden printing block technology was first introduced to Korea from China in 991 CE.
Military technology
In 1592, Korean Admiral Lee Soon-shin invented the turtle ship, the world’s first armored warship. The Arabs invented the first firearm in 1304. And the Chinese invented gunpowder.