The end of the classical period was a tragedy.  It had its pantheon of harmless gods and goddesses for the superstitious and some profound philosophical traditions for the informed and aware.  It was ultimately suppressed by a brutal and arbitrary set of myth based and primitive sectarian dogmatisms, Christianity in its two autocratic forms and later Islam.  I am glad Asia had no similar experience and very much hope the Western infection can be kept at bay.

I'm aware a lot of Westerners don't like being told what their tradition really represents, so maybe I can soften it a little by pointing out that the West produced science, much to the dismay of its clerical class, something that would have happened in China except for the fact that it became insular and devoid of stimulus -- nothing external but barbarians and nothing internal in the end but a stifling bureaucracy, although for awhile there was progress, human fear of change eventually stifled it.