Page 42 - The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand Vol.XIII-2021

The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand
Volume XIII – 2021

flourish (Steve Fuller, 1997). It is undeniable that Japan is now a world leader in
science and technology, but it started to merge into the global competitive arena

science and technology only in the late nineteenth century, much later than the
European countries. According to Fuller, this refutes the traditional belief that in
order to transplant science (and technology) into a foreign culture, the latter has to

take up the same steps taken by the European countries, which would have taken
them decades. The success of Japan in catapulting themselves up the scientific and
technological ladder shows, according to Fuller, that there is indeed a shortcut, and
science is not part and parcel of a particular culture as once believed. However, I
would like to argue that Fuller is perhaps too optimistic in saying that science and

technology can be transplanted rather easily; otherwise, other Asian countries
would have been as advanced as Japan in science and technology. The gap between
Japan and the other Asian countries such as Thailand is not discussed in Fuller and

it is my intention to attempt to fill this within the rather confined space available
for this present paper. The gap, I would like to add, could be filled for Thailand and
other similar Buddhist countries through a look back toward Nalanda as I am
proposing here.

*

First, let us return to Nalanda. Xuanzang has the following words to say
when he described the Monastery during his visit there in the seventh century:

In this way six kings in succession added to it more and more. A brick wall
was then constructed around these (buildings) in order to make them into

one monastery. In the wall a main gate was built and this opened into a
series of separate compounds. There were eight main halls in the monastery.
Ornamental towers were ranged around like stars and the decorated turrets
faced one another like peaks. The temples loomed high in the mists (of

dawn) and the main halls seemed to rise above the colored clouds (of the

Samuel Beal, 1884 The Life of Hiuen-Tsang by Shaman Hwui Li (London, Reprint. Delhi, 1969), pp. 111-112.
5
Quoted in: David Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists and their Tibetan Successors.
Rev. ed. (Bangkok: Orchid Press), pp. 321-322.

A Reflection on Nalanda Monastery as an Inspiration for Promoting Scientific and Technological Capabilities in
32 Thailand