The sound of one hand clapping

When two hands are joined together in very fast movements, they make the sound that we refer to onomatopoeically as "clapping."  If the term for two hands being joined together is described by an onomatopoeic word, surely the sound that one hand makes would also be referred to by means of an onomatopoeia?  If this is true, we can conclude that the sound of one hand 'clapping' makes no sound at all.  It is silent.  It is nothing.

In an old Zen story, Master Mokurai told his young student, Toyo, to find out what the sound of one hand clapping was.  After Toyo spent almost a year trying to find the answer, implying that the sound of one hand clapping was the sound of music, dripping water, wind and locusts, he finally concluded that there was, in fact, no sound.  It is nothing.

For me, one of the most beautiful and heart-warming things to see is a room or auditorium filled with people performing the 'deaf clap.'  In deaf culture, deaf audiences make use of a a visually expressive variant of clapping.  Instead of joining their palms together to make a 'clapping' noise, they raise their hands straight up with outstretched fingers and twists their wrists.  Even though there is 'nothing' or no sound, there is just beauty, showing their appreciation and admiration in a way that deaf people can also understand and feel.