Chinese Custom: how to KOWTOW 🙇‍♂️🙇‍♀️ how to BOW - and when to use them

Hi everyone, I'm Ally. What I just did is a traditional Chinese greeting custom for ladies There are many other ways to greet each other in ancient China, such as bowing and kowtowing In this video, I'll be showing you the different types of greetings, when to use them, and how to do them properly There is a long history to these Chinese customs According to the book Rites of Zhou, which was written around the 2nd century BC, there are 9 major types of kowtow The oldest unearthed artifacts are these kowtowing figurines from the Han dynasty You can also find many Dunhuang murals in the later dynasties depicting people kowtowing to Buddhas and monks The word kowtow is borrowed from the Cantonese term kao tao and it translates to knocking the head on the floor In ancient China, people sat on the floor instead of chairs When they showed respect to their guests, they would lift their bodies and bow down This is believed to be the origin of kowtowing Out of the 9 types of kowtow, 4 are used in formal situations One is called kong shou, and it's the first step of all kowtows You bow to the hands instead of going down to the floor Keep in mind that Chinese follow a custom called male left, female right So men keep their left hand on top and women keep their right hand on top The only exception is at funerals where the hands are switched So make sure you put the correct hand on top, otherwise it's considered very disrespectful Another one is called dun shou, and it's commonly used at weddings and worshipping ceremonies Begin with kong shou and go down to the floor Touch once and come back up Qi shou is the most formal kowtow It's used when meeting the emperor or worshipping the buddhas and gods Begin with kong shou, go all the way down to the floor and stay there There was a story about Confucius when he traveled to the state of Wei He visited its rulers' infamous consort, Nanzi Their meeting space had a divider that separated them Although they couldn't see each other, Confucius was able to hear the sound of Nanzi's accessories as she was kneeling down Ancient Chinese women usually have a lot of accessories, making it hard to bend down Subai was originally kneeling down with hands on the floor but eventually women didn't have to kneel anymore Soldiers with heavy armor also used subai instead of other kowtow methods out of convenience Later on, a less formal bao quan or fist wrapping gesture was developed in place of kowtow Other than the kowtow, a more casual and common way to greet each other is bowing with hands folded in front The Rites of Zhou defined three major types of bowing It follows the same male left, female right custom So men keep their left hand on the outside and women do the opposite All bowing are supposed to follow these guidelines Stand naturally with your feet apart Knees should not be bent Bow forward and lower your head Look at the tip of your shoes Take a look at this footage taken by Albert Kahn in 1909 It shows four different ways Chinese people greeted each other on a daily basis Let's talk about the most common ones Tuyi, or the low bow, is used when elders or people with higher social status return the bow from someone from a lower class Shiyi, or the middle bow, is pushing out the folded hands directly in front It's used when meeting friends or family of similar age and social status Tianyi, or the high bow, is used in formal events such as coming-of-age ceremonies, weddings, and worshipping ceremonies to show respect to the parents, ancestors, heaven, and earth Another type of bow is called the long bow When you meet people with high social status hold your hands above the eyes and go below the knees When you meet elders, hold your hands at mouth level and also go below the knees When you meet friends of the same age hold your hands at chest level and no need to go below the knees Women, on the other hand, had gender-specific gestures for example, Lianrenli Another common one is Wenfuli It first appeared during the Song dynasty Hold the hands at chest level Stick the right foot back, lower your body This one in the video is used by Manchurian ladies Hold the hands on the left knee and lower the body This one is used by Manchurian men Stick your right leg behind and lower your body Hold your right arm straight down China was once known as a land of dignity and courtesy Even just a hundred years ago people were still polite and respectful towards each other Unfortunately, most of it has been lost today I hope our generation can help revive this wonderful culture If you find this video helpful, please like and share Let me know what you would like to learn in the comments below I'll be making more videos on traditional Chinese culture, beauty, and fashion See you next time!