![]() “Bowing was initially confined to the noble class but became more prominent among the samurai warrior class from around the 12th century.” Kaifu says it didn’t permeate the commoners’ class until after the Edo period in the 17th century. As a former foreign services officer, Kaifu was expected to understand and properly execute Japanese etiquette in her work as an interpreter for the likes of Japanese Empress Michiko and foreign dignitaries such as President Ronald Reagan and Princess Diana. “Bowing was introduced to Japan in the seventh century from China,” says Yuko Kaifu, president of Japan House Los Angeles, a cultural initiative of the Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Bowing in JapanĪn obeisance, or gesture of deference, that began as an exclusive practice of the nobility more than a thousand years ago is now the most widely recognized non-verbal greeting of Japan. And if ever you see the King of Thailand, bow deeply and place your pressed hands high-thumbs at the top of your head. To convey a higher level of respect, use a deeper bow and place your hands higher: pressed hands at chest level for a standard greeting face level for a colleague, elder, or a superior hairline level for a monk. Even the director of the pandemic and epidemic diseases department of the World Health Organization, Sylvie Briand, recommended the Thai wai as an acceptable alternative to handshaking. So the wai also means hello in a very polite way.”Īnd since the wai doesn’t require contact, it makes for a safer salutation during the coronavirus pandemic. “The meaning is quite fluid,” says Marddent, “but for the current time, when we greet with the wai we also follow by saying ‘ sawatdee kha’ or ‘ sawatdee krab’ (depending on our gender). In addition to its use in spiritual practice and greetings, the Thai wai has multiple other applications including dance performances, apologies, and even to avoid the wrath of playground bullies. ![]() “But the history of the wai also comes from the greeting to show that we are very open, we do not carry any kind of weapon, and we come in peace.” “Many Hindus and Buddhists say prayers with their hands pressed together, using the wai,” says Amporn Marddent, a lecturer in the Cultural Studies Program at the Institute of Liberal Arts, Walailak University, in Nakhon Si Thammarat. The standard greeting across Thailand, the wai, also involves a gentle bow of the head with one’s hands pressed together in front-evidence of the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism on Thai culture, past and present. “By folding your hands together, you keep your energy protected and contained, as opposed to absorbing another person’s ,” explains Anjhula Mya Singh Bais, a trauma specialist and Nichiren Buddhist. There’s both humility and reverence in this greeting, and it’s believed that the mudra also protects the person earnestly performing it. The Sanskrit term translates to “bend or bow to you,” and so, Selvakumar says, “a person bows slightly when doing namaste to another person to signify ‘the Divine within me bows to the same Divine within you.’ It is considered to be a sign of respect and gratitude.” “It is mentioned in the Rig Veda, the oldest of the four Vedas. Selvakumar, a Hindu Indian American with familial origins in Tamil Nadu, and the founder of the American Hindu World Service. “The history dates back several thousands of years,” says Divya L. These days, the term is unceremoniously plastered on tote bags and T-shirts and uttered at the end of beer yoga classes, worlds away from its ancient spiritual origins. While you might hear the phrase “ namaste” accompanied by a mudra (gesture) of upward-pointing, pressed-together palms, in Western pop culture it’s often stripped of its cultural context and inappropriately used. ![]() ![]() The current COVID-19 crisis is influencing ways people connect, but for some cultures, no-contact greetings already exist and are the result of deeply rooted traditions rather than pandemic protocol. To prevent the spread of coronavirus, people around the world are trading their handshakes, hugs, and hongi (a traditional noses-pressed Maori greeting) for lower-risk gestures such as foot bumps and air high-fives. ![]()
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