Hanlu Temple · What you can do here
Bow
Sit down on a cushion in a hall, tap Bow, and the monk bows three times. Each bow is a whole movement — rise, bend, forehead to the floor — with a wooden knock as he goes down and a chime when the three are done.
How it works
Inside the hall, click an empty cushion and the monk walks over and sits; the camera moves behind him. Tap Bow in the bar along the bottom. Three bows take about eighteen seconds and cannot be interrupted. He sits back down on his own at the end. You can bow standing too — the movement is the same.
If you only want to put your palms together, tap Palms: three seconds or so, then down.
Why three
Three bows are the usual form in Chinese Buddhist temples, commonly explained as honouring the three treasures — Buddha, dharma, sangha — or as gathering the three doors of body, speech and mind. The full movement is called five-point prostration: both knees, both elbows and the forehead on the floor, palms turned upward, meaning you take the Buddha's feet to your head. The monk here does that, slowly, without insisting on form. There is a longer note on it.
What is not here
No count of bows is kept. The figures in grey sitting with you are made by your own browser, and they do not turn around. A bow is just a bow.