Chinese Footbinding The Story of the Golden Lotus.docx

Chinese Footbinding The Story of the Golden Lotus.docx

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ChineseFootbindingTheStoryoftheGoldenLotus

HIS3501A

TopicStudiesinTraditionalChineseHistory:

TheHistoryofChineseWomen

Lecturer:

PriscillaChung

Tutor:

MelodyMontague

ChineseFootbinding:

TheStoryoftheGoldenLotus

FinalPaper

EstherLee,NinaKo&SaraVantournhout

Introduction

TheChinesepracticeoffootbindingisacruel,mysterious,butalsoextremelyfascinatingcustomthatlastedformorethanathousandyears.Apairofperfectlyboundfeetsymbolizedidealbeauty.FortheChinese,thesewondrouslysmall‘GoldenLotuses’wereapieceofartandanobjectoferoticdesire–but,whatexactlyis‘footbinding’?

Whendidthiscustomoriginate,howdiditspreadthroughoutChina,andwhydiditcometoanend?

Andfinally,whydidChinesewomen,generationaftergeneration,continuetobindtheirdaughter’sfeet?

Inthispaper,wewillattempttounravelsomeofthemysteriesthatenveloptheChinesecultofthetinyfootbydiscussingfourtopicswithinthethemeofChinesefootbinding:

thepractice,itsoriginsandhistory,theimportanceoftheanti-footbindingmovementsandthedifferentinterpretationsoffootbinding.

Practice

Footbindingwasadaughter’sinitiationriteintothewomen’scommunity.Herfirstbindingtookplaceinthedepthsofthewomen’squartersunderthedirectionofhermother.Agirl’sfeetweremostlyboundwhenshewasbetweenfiveandeightyearsold.Atthatage,thelittlegirlwasprobablyunawareofthefactthatshewasbeingpreparedforsexualservicetoherfuturehusband.Butshewasmostdefinitelyawareoftheimmensepaincausedbytheboundfeetduringtheearlystages.Thesuccessorfailureoffootbindingdependedonskilfulapplicationofabandagearoundeachfoot.HowardS.Levydescribedtheprocessoffootbindingasfollows:

“Thebandagewaswrappedinthefollowingway.Oneendwasplacedontheinsideoftheinstep,andfromthereitwascarriedoverthesmalltoessoastoforcethetoesinandtowardsthesole.Thelargetoewasleftunbound.Thebandagewasthenwrappedaroundtheheelsoforcefullythatheelandtoesweredrawnclosertogether.Thefootoftheyoungchildwassubjectedtoacoerciveandunremittingpressure,fortheobjectwasnotmerelytoconfinethefootbuttomakethetoesbendunderandintothesoleandbringthesoleandheelasclosetogetheraswasphysicallypossible.”

OriginsandHistory

NooneknowsexactlywhostartedtheChinesecustomoffootbinding.QuestionsconcerningthebeginningofthepracticeinChinahaveoccupiedmanyminds,resultinginavarietyofdifferentopinions.Therehavebeenmadevariousspeculationsabouttheoriginoffootbinding,mostlybasedonsomeChinesemythsandsayings.InthissectionwewillsummarizesomeofthesespeculationsandexaminehowandwhenthepracticeoffootbindingspreadthroughoutChina.

1.OriginsofFootbinding

Accordingtosomeancientwritings,theoriginsoffoot-bindingcanbetracedbackasearlyasthetwenty-firstcenturyB.C.However,mostoftheearliestsourcesdonotmentiontheword‘footbinding’,butinsteadusewordssuchas‘smallfeet’or‘smallshoes’.Scholarshavenotbeenabletoresolvetheproblemastowhetherthereferencesweretoboundormerelysmallfeet.Forexample:

Thefactthatthetermdiechan跕纏（literally:

tobindthetoes）wasmentionedinSimaQian’sShiji史記（RecordsoftheHistorian）ledsomehistorianstotheconclusionthattherealreadyexistedaformoffootbindingintheQindynasty.However,therehasbeennoproofaboutwhetherornotthetermdiechandesignatestheverysamepracticeoffootbindingastheonethatspreadoverChinainlaterdynasties.

ChinesefolkloretraditionallyattributestheoriginoffootbindingtotheShangdynasty（16th-11thcenturiesB.C.）.DaJi,theconcubineofthelastruleroftheShangdynasty,wasafoxthattransformeditselfintoabeautifulwoman.Beingunabletochangeherfeet,shewrappedthemincloth.Asthestorygoes,thefoxthussetapalacefashion,andbeforelong,thecourtwomenstartedimitatingher.TheSuidynasty（581-618）recordedthestoryofWuYueniang,oneoftheconcubinesofEmperorSuiYang.Inanattempttoassassinatethetyrant,shewrappedaknifeunderhersoleandputonapairofshoesthatmadelotusfootprintsontheground,knowingthatthesewouldcertainlyattracttheemperor’sattention.Whentheemperorsummonedher,shepulledouttheknifebutintheendfailedtokillhim.Aftertheincident,thekingforbadewomenwithboundfeettoenterthepalace.Tocommemoratethisbraveconcubine,manywomenstartedbindingtheirfeetlikeYueniang.

ZhangBangji,atwelfth-centurycommentator,believedthatthepracticeoffootbindingdidnotgobackasearlyastheShangandSuidynasties.HestatedthatfootbindingactuallybeganatthecourtofthesovereignpoetLiYu（reign,961-975）,thelastemperoroftheSouthernTangduringtheFiveDynasties（907-960）.Hehadasix-foot-highgold-gildedlotusmadeforhisfavouriteconcubineYaoNiang,andorderedhertodanceonitwithherfeetboundinwhitesilkcloth,resemblingtheshapeofthenewmoon.Thestorygoesthatalltheothercourtladiessoonimitatedthepalacedance,andthe‘lilyfooted’becameamodelofbeautyforChinesewomen.

2.BriefHistoryofFootbinding

EventhoughthepracticeoffootbindinghadsupposedlybegunintheFiveDynastiesperiod,itwasnotuntiltheendoftheeleventhcenturythatfootbindingbecameamorewidespreadpracticeamongChinesewomen.ThereissomedistinctiveevidenceinbooksandpaintingsshowingthatmorewomenstartedbindingtheirfeetfromtheNorthernSong.Forexample,therearesomefolktalesfromthisperiod,likeNianyuGuanyin碾玉觀音,thatemphasizethepainandsufferingthatcomeswiththepracticeoffootbinding.Forthisreason,wecanassumethatthepracticeoffootbindingasweknowittodaywasanestablishedcustominNorthernSongChina.

BytheSouthernSong,thecustomoffootbindingspreadfromthenorthernpartofChinatothesouth.TherearetwomajorreasonswhythecultoftinyfeetstartedtoflourishinsouthChinaduringtheSouthernSong.ThefirstreasonwasthemoveofthecapitaltoLin’an（Hangzhou）,whichobviouslyhelpedspreadfootbindingtothesouth.AnotherreasonwecanfindinthefamousConfucianscholarZhuXi朱熹,whostronglyadvocatedthepracticeoffootbindinginsomesouthernregionslikeFujian.ZhuXiorderedthatallFukienesewomen’sfeetbeboundtoanexcessivedegree,inordertorestraintheirunchastityandotherimmoralhabits.Whilefootbindingmayhavebegunasaninnovationofthepalacedancer,duringtheSouthernSongitcametoberegardedasadeviceforthesuppressionofwomen:

“Whymustthefootbebound?

Topreventbarbarousrunningaround!

”

WithencouragementfromtheMongolrulers,footbindingwideneditspopularbaseduringtheYuandynasty（1271-1368）.TheMongolslovedboundfeet,andconsideredthecustomoffootbindingasawondrousandbeautifulcult.Undertheirinfluence,tinyfeetbecamethestandardmeasurementforbeautyamongwomen.Furthermore,theMongolspropagatedtinyfeetasameanstopoliticalstability,forboundfeetwouldkeepwomendocileathome.

BytheMingdynasty（1368-1644）,footbindingbegantospreadalloverChina.ThecultoffootbindingbecamesoimmenselypopularthatintheearlyMingthenatural-footedwomenwereridiculedforhavingbig,uglyfeet.Duringthisperiod,boundfeet,apartfrombeingtheChinesestandardforfemalebeauty,alsobecamethesymbolforsocialstatus.IndifferentregionsinChina,footbindingbecameasnecessaryforaproperwomanaslearningwasforaman.AstheoldChinesesayinggoes:

“Ifyouloveyourdaughter,bindherfeet;ifyouloveyourson,lethimstudy.”Forupper-classwomen,footbindingconfirmedtheirhighstatusinthesocialhierarchy.Forgirlsfromthelowerclass,footbindingenhancedtheirmarriageprospects,thusgivingthemanopportunitytomoveupwardinthemarriagemarket.BytheendoftheMingdynasty,footbindingnotonlyseemedtohavespreadthroughoutthecountry,butalsofromtheuppertothelowerclasses.

FootbindingreacheditspeakduringtheQingdynasty（1644-1911）,eventhoughtheManchuswereopposedtothepracticeoffootbindingfromtheverybeginning.Theyrepeatedlytriedtoimposeabanonthecustom.However,aswewillseeinthenextsectiononanti-footbindingmeasures,theirattemptsateradicationwereunsuccessful.Astheyearswentby,theinfluenceoffootbindingwasincreasinglyfeltbytheManchus;Manchumencametolikethetinyfoot,andtheirwiveseveninventedsomekindofimitationoffootbindingbycompressingthefootwithoutbendingthetoes.

3.Conclusion

OwingtothemostpopularandconvincingoriginmythaboutthecourtdancerYaoNiang,isitgenerallyacceptedthatthepracticeoffootbindingstartedamongthecourtandroyalfamiliesaroundtheeleventhcentury.DuringtheSongandYuandynasty,thepracticespreadgraduallythroughoutthecountry,andwasadoptedbythecommoners.ThecustomoffootbindingasastandardforfemalebeautyflourishedintheMingdynasty,andreacheditspeakintheQing.AsthebindingspreadalloverChina,theredevelopedmanydifferentfootbindingfashions,dependingonlocality.However,therewasonegeneralstandardforfootbindingthatwasfollowedbyHanwomenthroughoutthecountry:

thesmallerthebetter.

Anti-footbindingMovements

Inthemid-thirteenthcentury,CheRuoshui,aSungdynastyliteratusandtheearliestanti-footbindingspokesmanonrecord,wrote:

“Littlechildrennotyetfourorfivesui,whohavedonenothingwrong,neverthelessaremadetosufferunlimitedpaintobind[theirfeet]small.Idonotknowwhatusethisi