That was the era of the lushly scored costume poperetta (“The Phantom of the Opera,” “Cats,” “Miss Saigon,” “Les Misérables”), staged like Cecil B. DeMille epics and usually overseen by the Mike Todd-ish producer Cameron Mackintosh.

The C.C.P. is colossal, highly hierarchical and regimented. From its inception in 1921 with only 12 members, it has expanded to over 90 million, averaging almost 20 percent growth a year for 100 years... The C.C.P., like any of the more effective ancient Chinese ruling classes, diligently reads historical events for lessons. That has helped it navigate crises and, often, emerge stronger.

You might learn, for instance, that table manners can be dispensed with at restaurants, because the grown-ups are too embarrassed to discipline you in public.

Our selfship of the past must develop into citizenship. We must remember that each individual in the community is an asset to us — that no nation can be strong if its citizens are weak and diseased.