跪拜

guìbài

verb #38,330

Meanings

1 to kneel and bow
2 to kowtow
3 to prostrate in worship

Characters

to bow in worship

Examples

HSK 7-9

他在佛像前虔诚地跪拜。

Tā zài fóxiàng qián qiánchéng de guìbài.

He knelt and bowed reverently before the Buddha statue.

HSK 7-9

春节祭祖时仍保留跪拜的习俗。

Chūnjié jìzǔ shí réng bǎoliú guìbài de xísú.

The custom of kneeling in worship is still kept during Spring Festival ancestor veneration.

Tips

culture

Used in three main contexts: religious worship (Buddhist, Daoist), ancestor veneration, and the traditional wedding ritual 三拜 (bow to heaven/earth, to parents, to each other). Most 跪拜 customs were phased out after 1911, but some persist at temples and tombs.

register

More formal than 磕头 (lit. 'knock head', colloquial for kowtowing) and 叩首 (literary).

Stroke Order

跪 guì

拜 bài