A Case Study of East Asian Invention Censorship in the U.S. Education–Printing Press and Compass

Abstract

The lack of appreciation for non-Western world cultures and histories plays a cardinal role in today’s racial and ethnic hate crimes. Traditionally, much of the world history curricula in the United States’ public school systems have a tendency to focus on the Western world, which includes Europe, America, and Oceania, with slight mentions of society beyond that are often from a Western perspective. This omission causes misunderstanding of significant contributions understudied civilizations have made on this world. This case study uses primary and scholarly secondary sources to provide insight into two major inventions from East Asia, often incorrectly overlooked as a product of Europe, by discussing their origins and where they stand today. Furthermore, the paper analyzes the history of world history education in United States classrooms. Inventions are the focus in this review because many people do not realize how lives may change, sometimes for the worse, if simple objects like paper money or navigational systems are stripped away. The misinformation of the origin of such inventions often brings disregard for their impact. When educators fail to identify these issues and orient their classes to the ever-present Eurocentric model, this cycle of misunderstanding continues. Diminishing the accomplishments of non-Western communities feed historical stereotypes of those cultures being uncivilized and unadvanced, ultimately acting as a catalyst for the social injustices prevalent today. Because of such inventions' direct effect on our lives, it is critical we look at them compared to other parts of non-Western world culture that have been censored.