Where did bowing originate?

Bowing is the act of lowering the head, or sometimes the entire upper body from the waist, as a social gesture . This is common around the world, but is especially prominent in Oriental cultures especially in China, Korea, and Japan.

-Wikipedia

In Japan it's called "ojigi" and is distinguished from religious bowing, "gassho", which includes hands palm-together as in prayer.

Wikipedia says bowing originated as an act of subordination, as "lowering the head leaves the bower vulnerable." I mentioned this to a Japanese friend and was told that failure to bow to a samurai entitled him by decree to remove your head.

Well, bowing was prominent there long before the samurai, so my question remains. I've asked friends from Japan, Korea, and China and no one seems to really know. There was speculation that the source was Confucianism.

From an outsider, bowing seems to be practiced differently in those Oriental countries, and in China almost not at all. In fact, a Chinese friend said anyone who bowed there would look like a fool. And I'm sure that's right, it's just not part of modern Chinese culture. A result of the cultural revolution? Or does its disappearance predate that?

Bowing in Korea seems more hierarchical in the sense that juniors are very much expected to bow before their seniors, and do so more deeply. While there is some hierarchy in Japan as well, it feels much more egalitarian ... bowing is happening all over the place and by everyone regardless of whether the person being bowed to is known.

How do you feel about bowing to another, or to someone you don't know? Or even perhaps bowing to someone you know but don't respect?

I don't see a problem with it. Bowing affects one's attitude. Despite growing up in the west, I have a mild preference for living in a culture where such forms of respect and humility are not considered out of place. I miss this about Japan.

I have been asked many questions in my life about poetry, religion, life, and I have given precisely the same number of answers, but I have never, I repeat, never, satisfied a single interlocuter. Why? Because all questioning is a way of avoiding the real answer, which is really known already. Every man knows he must love his enemies, and sell all he has and give to the poor, but he doesn't wish to know it--so he asks questions.

-- R. H. Blyth