What is Kowtow?
[[File:Three people 'kowtowing' to an altar, one woman crying, othe Wellcome V0015171.jpg|thumb|Wood [[engraving]] of three people 'kowtowing' to an altar. It shows one woman crying while others are smoking [[opium]]. It shows them paying their last respects to a Chinese merchant's wife. ]] '''Kowtow''', which is borrowed from ''koutou'' in [[Mandarin Chinese]]. <ref>{{Cite web|title=Kowtow {{!}} Chinese ritual|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/kowtow|access-date=2020-08-16|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> It is a traditional [[prostration]] common in [[Eastern Asia]]. It means kneeling and [[bowing]] one's head to the ground. Kowtow is used in showing respect to [[parent]]s or [[gods]], or as a form of punishment by the parents when one has done something wrong. In the [[Qing Dynasty]] of [[China]], the main usage of kowtow was to show respect and loyalty to the [[king]]. Nowadays, people seldom kowtow and [[Bowing|bow]] to others instead. However, in some Chinese [[wedding]]s, the couple kowtow to the parents. At some [[school]]s in [[Taiwan]], students still have to kowtow to thank their [[teacher]]s. == References == {{Reflist}} [[Category:Non-verbal communication]] {{stub}}