Declining Mandarin Manners.

One thing I’ve decided since immersing myself in Chinese culture is that I’m not much of a Confucianist, being more inclined to the Tao persuasion. The British Empire was Confucianist, and look what it brought us to: rampant constipation and the wearing of some pretty silly hats. Mind you, at least British civil servants didn’t carry fans as a matter of social propriety. Bit girly, that. They might have donned lipstick and silk stockings in the cellars of Soho after midnight, but in the harsh light of day their upper lips were pretty stiff.