What is kowtowing?
Synonyms for KOWTOWING: fawning, obeisant, obsequious, servile, slavish, subordinate, subservient, amenable, biddable, compliant
Will China kowtow to demand or Hunker Down?
The meaning of KOWTOW is to show obsequious deference : fawn. How to use kowtow in a sentence. Did you know?
What happened to the kowtow?
kowtowing definition: 1. present participle of kowtow 2. to show too much respect to someone in authority, always doing…. Learn more.
What is the Confucian kowtow?
A kowtow / ˈ k aʊ t aʊ / is the act of deep respect shown by prostration, that is, kneeling and bowing so low as to have one's head touching the ground. In Sinospheric culture, the kowtow is the highest sign of reverence. It was widely used to show reverence for one's elders, superiors, and especially the Emperor of China, as well as for religious and cultural objects of worship.
What is the meaning of "kowtow"?
Kowtow originated as a noun referring to the act of kneeling and touching one's head to the ground as a salute or act of worship to a revered authority. In traditional China this ritual was performed by commoners making requests to the local magistrate, by the emperor to the shrine of Confucius, or by foreign representatives appearing before ...
Where did the word "kowtow" come from?
The word kowtow derives from Chinese "koutou," formed by combining the verb "kou" ("to knock") with the noun "tou" ("head"). The noun had arrived in English by 1804, and the earliest evidence for the verb dates from 1826.
What is the practice of kowtow?
Prostration is a general practice in Buddhism, and not restricted to China. The kowtow is often performed in groups of three before Buddhist statues and images or tombs of the dead. In Buddhism it is more commonly termed either "worship with the crown (of the head)" (頂禮 ding li) or "casting the five limbs to the earth" (五體投地 wuti tou di)—referring to the two arms, two legs and forehead. For example, in certain ceremonies, a person would perform a sequence of three sets of three kowtows—stand up and kneel down again between each set—as an extreme gesture of respect; hence the term three kneelings and nine head knockings ( 三跪九叩之禮 [ zh] ). Also, some Buddhist pilgrims would kowtow once for every three steps made during their long journeys, the number three referring to the Triple Gem of Buddhism, the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Prostration is widely practiced in India by Hindus to give utmost respect to their deities in temples and to parents and elders. Nowadays in modern times people show the regards to elders by bowing down and touching their feet.
What is the kowtow ceremony?
In the most solemn of ceremonies, for example at the coronation of a new Emperor, the Emperor's subjects would undertake the ceremony of the "three kneelings and nine kowtows", the so-called grand kowtow, which involves kneeling from a standing position three times, and each time, performing the kowtow three times while kneeling. Immanuel Hsu describes the "full kowtow" as "three kneelings and nine knockings of the head on the ground".
Why is bowing important?
Because the body is placed in a low position in the kowtow, the idea is that one will naturally convert to his or her mind a feeling of respect. What one does to oneself influences the mind. Confucian philosophy held that respect was important for a society, making bowing an important ritual.
What is the act of deep respect shown by prostration?
For the village in Burkina Faso, see Kotou, Burkina Faso. Kowtow, which is borrowed from kau tau in Cantonese Chinese ( koutou in Mandarin), is the act of deep respect shown by prostration, that is, kneeling and bowing so low as to have one's head touching the ground.
When did the word "kowtow" come into use?
The word "kowtow" came into English in the early 19th century to describe the bow itself, but its meaning soon shifted to describe any abject submission or groveling. The term is still commonly used in English with this meaning, disconnected from the physical act and the East Asian context.
What does "ke" mean in Chinese?
An alternative Chinese term is ketou; however, the meaning is somewhat altered: kou ( 叩) has the general meaning of knock, whereas ke ( 磕) has the general meaning of "touch upon (a surface)", tou ( 頭) meaning head . The date of this custom's origin is probably sometime between the Spring and Autumn period, or the Warring States period of China's history because it was a custom by the time of the Qin dynasty (221 BC – 206 BC).
Who refused submission to the Emperor?
^ Formerly, historians illustrated the abjectness of kowtowing by claiming that diplomats, such as the British George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney (1793) and William Pitt Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst (1816), refused submission before the Emperor, causing their visits' failure. However, as Stephen Platt has demonstrated, this oft-told tale about kowtowing does not bear itself out in the primary sources.