Chinese Kotow and European Handshake: Episodes in the History of Intercultural Etiquette in China around 1900

This chapter explores how practices of intercultural etiquette can lead to misunderstandings and, indeed, failures in Chinese–European intercultural encounters. Specifically, it considers the discourse about, and the practice of, greeting gestures in European–Chinese communication, particularly focusing on the turn-of-the-century period, around 1900, when the expiring Qing Empire was under pressure internationally and there were strong tensions in their mutual perception. The essay discusses different conceptions of what ‘etiquette’ signifies and how it can lead to misinterpretations and misconstructions that fail the purpose of the etiquette. A recapitulation of shifting European attitudes towards the kotow (‘head-knocking’) serves as the starting point. The clash of greeting etiquettes led to some misunderstandings and revealing conflicts. This is demonstrated through the analysis of a series of cases, as found in some episodes from turn-of-the-century Chinese novels of manner, in particular A Report on the Present State of Officialdom (Guanchang xianxing ji) and A Short History of Civilization (Wenming xiaoshi) by Li Boyuan (1867–1906), in which Western-style forms of greeting gesture, mainly handshaking but also hat-raising, are employed towards, as well as by, Chinese protagonists.