How to Do the Formal Korean Bow

Koreans do the formal bow on Seollal (New Year’s Day), Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving), and at Jesa (honoring ancestral spirits). There may be other times, but these are the biggies.

I’m going to over this whole formal Korean bowing situation because it will inevitably come up since this is the week of Chuseok. (Hopefully you haven’t missed your shot. Sorry I didn’t post it earlier.)

After reading this, you’ll knock your family’s (or better yet, your significant other’s family’s) socks off with your bowing prowess! Well, okay they probably won’t even notice. But hey, at least you won’t be awkward about it.

Don’t Embarrass Yourself

My relatives busted on my sister last year when she went to Seoul during Chuseok. We didn’t know that women are supposed to already have their hands on their forehead before beginning to lower themselves. She got the chastising of a lifetime from an overly nitpicking aunt. Apparently, we had been doing it wrong all our lives!

Learn It the Right Way

This is the best video on formal bowing I could find. I think it’s best to watch the video AND use the fine tuning tips/things to look out for during your bow that I outline below.

The Men’s Formal Bow

1. Notice you put your left hand on top of your right.
2. Your hands land on the floor first (kind-of making a triangle with your index fingers and thumbs), and THEN your knees.

The Women’s Formal Bow (keunjeol – literally, “The Big Bow”)

1. Notice you put your right hand on top of your left.
2. You should put both hands to your forehead before you start lowering yourself.
3. Hands stay glued to your forehead the entire time. That’s right, there’s no bracing yourself with your arms as you go down to the floor. Do this gracefully (slow is fine) and NOT dropping it like it’s hot. Got it ladies?
4. In the video I linked above, the lady sits down cross-legged. I was taught to kneel instead of sitting cross-legged. This way is much easier. If you go this route, you need to bend your left knee first and then the right knee. On the way up, you reverse it. You step up with your right leg and then the left. Here’s a pretty good video to see the kneeling style demonstrating what I mean. It’s toward the end.

The Alternate Women’s Formal Bow (jageunjeol – literally, “The Small Bow”)

1. Arms stay pretty much ram rod straight at your sides while you lower yourself to the floor.
2. Notice your right knee is up and your left leg folds underneath you. It’s sort-of like if you were getting down on the left knee to propose.

Get to Bowing

Now go wow some Koreans with your mad new formal bowing skills!

Have you ever been called out for bowing incorrectly? Or worse, not knowing how to bow at all?? Did you ever get caught up in the skirt of your hanbok and face plant? Not that that’s ever happened to me! 😏

Share your woes in the comments!