# Who invented clapping?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-clapping/20737>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 28, 2000, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-clapping/20737 "2000-05-28T15:24:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2000, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-clapping/20737/1 "2000-05-28T15:24:42Z")

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The “wave” question got me to thinking of this one. In movies about ancient times, you see people at outdoor events and speeches cheering and yelling, which seems natural. But sometimes there are scenes of indoor performaces and speeches, in which the audience is shown clapping. Since movies are known for getting things wrong, I’m wondering if they are depicting things correctly or not in this case. Did the ancient Romans or Egyptians clap for their performers? Did other ancient cultures like China and India clap?

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**Author:** ![Standup\_Karmic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Standup\_Karmic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Standup_Karmic)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-clapping/20737/2 "2004-05-05T05:02:18Z")

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I’m not sure if it’s proper to bump a four-year-old thread, but here I am doing it.

The question that popped into my mind last night whilst clapping wildly and cheering on the Calgary Flames as they played the Red Wings (ultimately ousting them from the playoffs and winning Round 2, but that’s really not the point) was, do all cultures clap to show appreciation? Moreover, is there an anthropological explanation as to _why_ we clap? Why clapping, as opposed to slapping one’s forearm, stomping feet (which is done, but not really as the more commonly accepted and displayed clapping of the hands) or some other manner of noise making?

Hopefully we’ll get some responses this time to this 1437 day old thread.

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**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-clapping/20737/3 "2004-05-05T05:12:00Z")

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A couple google results is all I got right now:

[http://listserv.cuny.edu/Scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0009a&L=opera-l&D=0&P=5033](http://listserv.cuny.edu/Scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0009a&L=opera-l&D=0&P=5033)

[http://listserv.cuny.edu/Scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0009a&L=opera-l&D=0&P=7969](http://listserv.cuny.edu/Scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0009a&L=opera-l&D=0&P=7969)

Second one says it originated in Greece, but gives no other details.

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**Author:** ![aeropl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f05b48/32.png) [@aeropl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aeropl)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-clapping/20737/4 "2004-05-05T12:20:59Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Why clapping, as opposed to slapping one’s forearm, stomping feet…

Well, it does seem like the easiest way to make the loudest noise you can, short of yelling or hollering. Here are two other threads on the topic ([here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=164729) and [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=29469&highlight=clapping)). If clapping was done in Roman times, does anyone know when it spread (if that’s the case) to the east? For instance, did the Japanese clap after a good Kabuki play?