hmm, 5000 years passed in the west as well and presumably people were also learning in the west.
in the end, it is not how long knowledge has accumulated in a place but how open people are to learning from others.
And how open is often a crap shoot accident of history. The US forced Japan open when Admiral Perry paid Tokyo a visit. Had he only gone to North Korea instead, history would have been completely different.
They are not just rigid. They are exceedingly strict beyond comparison. having spent a little time in the Indian system, this I can assure you.
It's also no surprise that the biggest hit movie of India in the past few years was about how rigid the education system is and how students should be allowed to pursue their own passions, rather fulfill their parents desires.
As for China, what they've gained culturally in the last 5000 years became irrelevant once communism took hold.
in the end, it is not how long knowledge has accumulated in a place but how open people are to learning from others.
And how open is often a crap shoot accident of history. The US forced Japan open when Admiral Perry paid Tokyo a visit. Had he only gone to North Korea instead, history would have been completely different.