"It is a sure sign that summer has arrived in China when men start rolling up their shirts, ideally resting them on the natural ledge of their beer belly."

"The theory, based in traditional Chinese medicine, is that exposing one’s midriff helps air out the warm 'chi' energy around the internal organs. So in parks and on street corners, on motorbikes and at open restaurants, men think nothing of pulling up their shirts and letting it all hang out. But now authorities in cities around the country have declared that the broader practice of exposing body parts that should be covered — including chests, bellies and feet — is unseemly...  Many commenters on Weibo, China’s answer to Twitter, supported the various governments’ efforts. The most popular response was the one that recommended promoting this effort nationwide. Another supporter said: 'I can’t stand it. They make public places their own home. It’s as if they are taking the sky as their quilt and the earth their bed.'... 'It’s not a big deal. It’s just our habit. We have to do this when it’s hot,' said a man... sitting in a deck chair outside his building supplies store in a Beijing alley... his blue shirt entirely open. 'We are shirtless because we need to cool down,' he said, while his wife yelled from inside the store: 'It’s not civilized.'...  'It’s a personal style, said one [man]. 'If women reveal their belly it’s beautiful, but when we do it, it’s ugly?'

From "A mainstay of the Chinese summer, the ‘Beijing bikini,’ is under threat" (WaPo). Top-rated comment:

"It’s as if they are taking the sky as their quilt and the earth their bed." — Beautiful language, but the ancient wisdom is captured in this story: "What are you doing meditating in your hut with no pants on?" "The whole world is my hut. This small room is my pants. What I want to know is, what are you doing in my pants?"

I tried to track down that "ancient wisdom." I'm always dubious about references to "ancient Chinese wisdom." It's here, in one book at least... at most? I'm skeptical, but also, it's not an apt joke — that's all it is, a joke, not wisdom, even if it is ancient — because it's one thing to be naked in your home, another thing to inflict it on others in public. But as we say in American free speech analysis: Avert your eyes.