抱拳 (bàoquán): to cup one's fist in the other…

Meanings

1 to cup one's fist in the other palm (a traditional Chinese salute)
2 to make the fist-and-palm gesture of respect

Characters

抱

Examples

师父进门,徒弟们齐齐抱拳行礼。

Shīfu jìn mén, túdìmen qíqí bàoquán xínglǐ.

As the master entered, the disciples in unison raised cupped fists in salute.

群里有人帮我解决了问题,我发了个抱拳表情。

Qún lǐ yǒu rén bāng wǒ jiějué le wèntí, wǒ fā le ge bàoquán biǎoqíng.

Someone in the group chat helped me out, so I sent a fist-cupping emoji back.

Tips

culture

The proper form is right fist wrapped by the left palm — left over right signals peace, the reverse signals mourning or a challenge. Ubiquitous in wuxia (武侠) drama and martial-arts schools. The �� emoji is widely read on Chinese internet as 抱拳 (thanks / respect), not Western 'prayer'.