Editing Kowtow (section)

==Religion==
{{Main|Prostration (Buddhism)}}
{{Unreferencedsection|date=March 2024}}
[[File:Three people 'kowtowing' to an altar, one woman crying, othe Wellcome V0015171.jpg|left|thumb|Kowtowing in [[Chinese funeral rituals]]]]
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'' ({{ill|三跪九叩之禮|zh}}). 

Some Buddhist [[pilgrimage|pilgrims]] would kowtow once for every three steps made during their long journeys, the number three referring to the [[Triple Gem]] of Buddhism, the [[Buddhahood|Buddha]], the [[Dharma]], and the [[Sangha (Buddhism)|Sangha]]. Prostration is widely practiced in India by Hindus to give utmost respect to their deities in temples and to parents and elders. In modern times, people show regards to elders by bowing down and touching their feet. Prostration is also common among the Yoruba people in West Africa. Parents raised their male children to prostrate as a sign of respect and indication of good home training while the female children are trained to kneel to elders when greeting. Due to modernisation of some sort, it is not uncommon to see boys or men slightly bow their head to an older person rather than having to fully prostrate. Similarly, girls and women now slightly tilt their knees as a sign of respect, rather than having to fully kneel down all the time.