Gongshou (simplified: 拱手, traditional: 拱手, pinyin: Gǒngshǒu, jyutping: Gung2 sau2) was the cupped hands salute used for general social courtesy throughout traditional Chinese society. Unlike the martial baoquan salute exclusive to the jianghu, cupped hands appeared in everyday social situations across all walks of life.
This article discusses gongshou as it appears across wuxia fiction. Gongshou appears in works by Jin Yong, Gu Long, Liang Yusheng, and other wuxia authors as a standard element of Chinese social etiquette. While specific contexts vary by novel and author, the basic form and function remain consistent throughout the genre.
Overview
The gesture followed different rules from the martial salute, with flexible hand positioning. The Erya1 commentary explained the basic form: “Two hands held together in a cupped position,” with hands interlocking or overlapping rather than following the strict left-palm-right-fist pattern of baoquan.
Classical texts prescribed detailed regulations for proper execution. According to commentary on the Shuowen Jiezi2, proper hand positioning followed strict gender rules: the right hand went inside with the left hand outside. For men’s auspicious salute, the left (outside) position was favoured, whilst women’s auspicious salute reversed this, favouring the right (outside) position. Reversing these gender-specific patterns was considered inauspicious or funerary.
Usage contexts
Cupped hands appeared in everyday social situations across all walks of life. Scholars greeted each other with cupped hands. Merchants used it when meeting customers or negotiating deals. Farmers employed it in village interactions. Officials used it in formal but non-martial contexts. It served for greetings, expressions of thanks, polite requests, and general social interactions where martial arts were not involved.
Historical evolution
The cupped hands salute evolved significantly over Chinese history.
Tang and Song dynasties
During the Tang and Song dynasties, the gesture typically followed the crossed hands3 greeting, where hands interlocked in a specific crossed pattern. A Tang manual described the technique: “The left hand tightly grasps the right hand, with the left little finger pointing toward the right wrist, whilst all four fingers of the right hand remain straight…”
Ming dynasty onward
From the Ming Dynasty onward, the gesture generally involved overlapping hands positioned at chest level, resembling Daoist greeting styles. Ming Dynasty children’s etiquette manuals extensively documented cupped hands usage across various contexts—sitting, standing, and moving—demonstrating its fundamental role in social interaction throughout traditional Chinese society. The Childrens’ Rites4 repeatedly mentioned cupped hands as essential instruction for young students entering education.
Distinction from martial salutes
Cupped hands differed fundamentally from baoquan, the martial salute exclusive to the jianghu. The critical distinction lay not just in form but in social meaning.
When a character used cupped hands, they signalled civilian identity or addressed someone outside the martial context. When a character used baoquan, they signalled: “I am a person of the jianghu, and I follow jianghu rules.”
This distinction revealed character identity and social belonging. A scholar using cupped hands versus a martial artist using baoquan told readers immediately who they were encountering.
Characters often switched between salutes depending on context—martial artists used cupped hands in civilian settings but baoquan within the jianghu. This switching demonstrated cultural fluency and social awareness.
Behind the scenes
Historical foundation
The cupped hands salute derived from ancient Chinese ritual practice documented in classical texts. The gesture’s evolution from Tang-Song crossed hands styles to Ming Dynasty overlapping hands reflected broader changes in Chinese social etiquette over centuries.
The gesture connected to Confucian values of ritual propriety and respect for hierarchy. Proper execution demonstrated cultural knowledge and social refinement, whilst improper execution signalled ignorance or disrespect.
Literary significance
In wuxia fiction, cupped hands serves as a marker of civilian identity, contrasting with the martial baoquan. Authors use this distinction to establish character identity, social context, and cultural boundaries.
When translations render both baoquan and cupped hands as generic “salutes” or “bows”, they lose essential information about character identity and social belonging.
Translation considerations
“Cupped hands” is the standard translation, maintaining distinction from the martial “fist in palm” or “palm over fist” translations used for baoquan. The key is consistency in distinguishing the two gestures throughout a translation.
See also
External links
Footnotes
-
尔雅 — Ěryǎ. Classical Chinese dictionary and encyclopedia, one of the earliest Chinese dictionaries still in existence. See Wikipedia. ↩
-
说文解字 — Shuōwén Jiězì. Authoritative Chinese dictionary compiled in the Eastern Han dynasty, containing detailed analysis of character composition and meaning. See Wikipedia. ↩
-
叉手 — chāshǒu. Crossed hands style popular during Tang-Song periods, where hands interlocked in specific patterns documented in period etiquette manuals. ↩
-
童子礼 — Tóngzǐ Lǐ. Ming Dynasty etiquette manual for children, documenting proper conduct and greeting gestures required for young students. ↩