Greetings and General Social Proprieties
The practice of bowing to another to show respect is, of course, a major tradition. Bowing is the formalized greeting or parting between anyone, not just royalty. In members of the military, not following this etiquette can be considered dishonoring a superior, as detailed above in the legal section. In the Haina Empire, the ritual of bowing has taken on a very significant change from both real-world examples and what PCs are used to. Normally, a lesser would bow to a superior (king, General, etc.) and if the bow is returned, they would be obligated to bow lower to offer respect. This is completely opposite in the Haina Empire. Given that the people have now lived with the consequences of pride, the “Sin of Chai Tsu” has made it customary for a superior to show his greatness by humbling himself to his subordinates. Even if the modesty is false, a higher ranking individual will bow first and lower.
Until this custom is learned by the PCs, the chances for interesting social role-playing faux pas will be interesting at least, or disastrous at worst.
Other than a formalized greeting (bow) it is improper for someone to publicly show respect toward anyone of a lower station or rank. As such, commanders will only publicly mock and belittle his soldiers or else give only stoic silence. The same also applies for parents toward their children, and husbands toward their wives. Praise is something reserved for the privacy of the home. Of course, in that privacy, the defiance of children or true strength of women is often shown. There has been more than one officer who is secretly commanded by a strong and shrewd wife rather than any particular brilliance of his own. Social hierarchy is first determined by rank, second by age, and third by gender. Slaves are, of course, are socially lower than free peoples.
The only quirk thrown into this strict social structure is the presence of the tainted. Although dark kin technically have the rights of any other citizen, they are usually the lowest in their social strata. They rarely rise above being a full time soldier (Chu-hsi) or, in rare cases, a detachment commander (Chuang-zhu). More often than not, dark kin of the Haina Empire are used as spies, scouts, and reconnaissance agents in lands more agreeable to their “condition” in life. Amongst the general populace, a dark kin male has only slightly more rights and given a nod more respect than a woman.