Learn to read before you go around laughing, it just removes all possible doubt. I mentioned the Three Great Philosophies 三教 for a reason and how they were all influenced by Buddhism... you may want to look up where the term first cropped up. Of course, you're welcomed to wriggle about trying to argue the point, it would be amusing to watch you try.
Oh, and if you want to split hairs in a desperate attempt to appear correct, let's get a few things straight, you mean Confucianism and Taoism predate Buddhism in China, because it is by no means clear that they actually predate Buddhism itself.
Axioms and postulates WERE uniquely Grecian and not invented by anybody else. Back to you about 'foundation'.
It's pretty rich for you to obfuscate the matter talking about mathematics as a whole and then fixating on ONE point of navigation like 'compass' in particular, and 'paper' on the whole of the Enlightenment.
You claim that Taoism and Confucianism were influenced by Buddhism and thus Buddhism can be considered a foundation of Chinese civilization. This shows how poorly you understand Chinese history. Neither Taoism nor Buddhism can be considered the foundation of Chinese civilization.
It was the
school of thought that founded the imperial dynasties, and it is this same backbone of Legalism, sugarcoated by Confucian values, that is the true foundation of the imperial dynasties.
Arguing that Buddhism and Taoism are "foundations of Chinese civilization" is akin to arguing that Christianity is the foundation of Western civilization. If you truly believe that, then power to you.
As for axioms and postulates, they are only one of the many ways of formalizing mathematics. The Chinese civilization went 2000 years without ever hearing about the Greeks, and still built some of the world's most ingenious architectures and technologies. Therefore, your argument that axioms and postulates are the foundation of technology does not hold water.
The Europeans "discovered" the Americas twice. The first time, they had axes, long boats, and huge hairy berserkers. The second time, they had caravels, guns, cannons, and guys wearing tights. You tell me what the key to their success second time around was.
Before the introduction of paper, books were so expensive that they were locked away in Monasteries. The whole point of the printing press revolution was that it drastically cheapened the cost of disseminating information. Do you think Gutenberg would have had that kind of impact if he had to use parchment for every leaflet he printed?
Of course paper is not the only factor to the Enlightenment, just as compass is not the only element to navigation, just as gunpowder is not the only element to military successes. That's why I asked if you understood the meaning of the word "foundation".
