I used to think that the Japanese are the only people that bow to each other as a gesture to show respect to the elderly or to someone that is higher than them in life. I just found out that Koreans actually do that too.
Maybe I thought that the Japanese are the only ones that bow to show respect to each other because of the Japanese movies I watched or something. They bow down to each other even before having a life and death fight. I really like that ya'know. The respect.
It is actually very nice that Koreans too bow down to their elders to show respect. They don't do this for political gains or and form of benefit but it is a genuinely natural habit that's developed from childhood to show respect to the elders. This inturn probably make the elders feel loved, cherished and wanted, thus, increasing their level of happiness and providing happy aging.
I am from a place where respect is also cherished. Though we don't bow down to our elders. We show respect to elders in our own unique way. A part of my country, the Yoruba lie down on the ground to show respect to their elders or to people that's higher than them. However, in my place, we don't. Sometimes we do kneel down to be blessed by elders or bow our heads slightly when an elder is talking, but we never bow down.
I don't really know why this is, but my hypothesis is that we don't bow down because of religion. Majority of the populations here are Christians. As Christians, it is believed that you don't bow down to any man except God. Man is not God, so, we don't bow down. I don't know. We all have our diverse beliefs though.
Personally, I do value respect to a very great extent. Even with the religious restrictions, I actually bow slightly to people when I'm greeting them. Most especially, elderly people. I'm not doing this for political reasons or to gain something, but I do this because that's who I am. I can be humble to that extent.
Thank you for reading.
All images are mine.
