Kowtow

An act of respect shown by kneeling low and bowing until one's head touched the ground. It was typically preformed before the Emperor of China. Most famously, it was performed by the British Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, after the unsuccessful conclusion of the second Opium War (1856-1860).

Modern Uses

To kowtow (or kowtowing) is a term commonly recognized as meaning to submit without question, often used to refer to those who will blindly follow an ideology without taking time to question why.