KOTOW, ki)-tou' (Chin. K'ow-fow, K'or-T'oc, from K'olc, to knock, and row, head). To salute, pay respect, homage, or worship by kneeling ceremoniously and then knocking the forehead on the ground. In China, schoolboys on entering the schoolroom kneel and knock their heads on the floor before the picture of Confucius: in feriors kotow to superiors; a .humble apology is made by kotowing; prisoners kotow before the magistrate; and the kotow is the most respectful way of worshiping the gods, or before the ancestral tablets. The kotow is performed to friends and relatives seen for the first time after the death of one's father and mother, and it is imperative in approaching the Emperor. There being nine steps to the Imperial throne, there are eight gradations of obeisance, before reaching the top, as follows: (1) Joining the hands and raising them before the breast; (2) bowing low with the hands still joined; (3) bending the knee as if about to kneel; (4) actual kneeling: (5) the kotow, in which the suppliant or guest before the Emperor kneels, and strikes his head on the ground; (6) kneeling and striking the head on the ground thrice, called the san Volt' or three knockings: (7) kneeling, knocking the head thrice upon the ground, standing upright.
and again kneeling and knocking the head three times more; (8) kneeling thrice and knocking the head to the earth nine times. While some of the gods receive only the kotow, or 'three knocks,' and others the seventh grade of obeisance, the Emperor and 'Heaven' full quota of honor, which reaches its climax in the three kneelings and nine knockings of the head. To reject these forms is to reject au thority. To accept them is to acknowledge homage and obedience to the Emperor. No ac credited European envoys have made the kotow, except Papal emissaries, and those from Portugal and Holland. who originally yielded to Chinese etiquette, not understanding the full significance of the act. or for the sake of greater facilities of trade, and for direct conference with the Emperor himself.