chastitybelt

CHINESEFOOTBINDING

By:

(Written25October1995)

wowordsbringupimagesoftwisteddeformedfeet,

r,what

dowereallyknowaboutit?Whatwasactuallydone?Whywasitdoneandhowcouldsucha

thinghavebeentolerated?Whenandwheredidthistakeplaceandisthiscustomstillpracticed

today?ThearesomeofthequestionsthatIhadandinthefollowingpagesIwillattemptto

answerthequestionsandgiveusabetterunderstandingofthisbizarrecustom.

Soexactlywhatisfootbinding?

lyevenlaterifthefamily

ge,tenfeet

longandtwoincheswidewaswrappedtightlyaroundthcfoot,forcingthefoursmalltoesunder

dethefeetnarrowerbutatthesametimeitmadethefeetshorter

becauitalso

bandagewastightenedeachdayandthegirlwasputintoprogressivelysmallerandsmallersized

ireprocessusuallytookabouttwoyearsattheendofwhichthefeetwere

gthefeetwastheeasypart,beingbentsooutof

theyweren'tmanicuredproperlythetoenailscouldcutintotheinstepandinfectioncouldtin.

Ifthebindingsweretootighttheycouldcutoffcirculationwhichcouldleadtogangreneand

thadtobemassagedandgivenhotandcoldcompresstohelprelieve

hisisn'tbadenough,cornswoulddeveloponthe

t!Itgetswor!With

thelackofci

painwassaidt

sayingsays,"Everypair

ofsmallfeetcostsabath(kang)oftears".Itisdifficulttoimaginethesufferingthatthewomen

anaccountfromawomanthatwentthroughthisordeal:

"WhenIwasvenmymother….

thenbentmytoestowardtheplantarwithabindingclothtenfeetlongandtwoincheswide

...orderedmetowalkbutwhenIdidthepain

provedunbearable,thatnight...myfeetfeltonfireandIcouldn'tsleep;motherstruckmefor

ollowingdaysItriedtohidebutwasforcedtowalkonmyfeet...afterveral

monthsalltoesbutthebigonewerepresdagainsttheinnersurface..,motherwouldremovethe

dmethatonlywith

removalofthefleshcouldmyfeetbecomeslender...everytwoweeksIchangedtonewshoes.

Eachnewpairwasonetotwotenthsofaninchsmallerthanthepreviousone....Insummermy

feetsmelledoffensivelybecauofpussandblood;inwintermyfeetfeltcoldbecauoflackof

circulation...fourofthetoeswerecurledinlikesomanydeadcaterpillars...ittooktwoyearsto

achievethethreeinchmodel...myshankswerethin,myfeetbecamehumped,uglyand

odoriferous."

FootbindingbeganlateintheT'angDynasty(618-906)anditgraduallyspreadthroughthe

upperclassduringtheSongDynasty(960-1297).DuringtheMingperiod(1368-1644)andthe

ChingDynasty(1644-1911)thecustomoffootbindingspreadthroughtheoverwhelming

majorityoftheChinepopulationuntilitwasfinallyoutlawedinthe1911RevolutionofSun

,theonlypeoplestoavoidthiscustomweretheManchuconquerors,TheHakka

ChinemigrantgroupsinsouthChinaandthelowestclassofpeopleinChinawhowerebelow

cticeoffootbindinglastedforapproximatelyonethousandyears.

Duringthistime,approximatelyonebillionwomenhadtheirfeetbound.

Thereareverallegendsthatendeavortoaccountfortheinceptionofthiscustom,oneisthat

theconcubineofaChineprincenamedYaoNiangwalkedsogracefullythatitemedasif

she"skimmedoverthetopofgoldenlilies."Atthattimethe"lilyfootedwoman"orawoman

dlegendsaysthatthisconcubine,Yao

Niang,legend

sr

accountisthatfootbindingwasmadestylishbycourtdancers,Howeverthisemssomewhat

unligin

offootbindingmaynotbeclear,nding

stoppedconcubinesandwivesoftherichfromstrayingorrunningawayfrombeatings.

Confucianteachingsatthistimestresdthesuperiorstatusofmenoverwomenasabasic

elementofsocialorderandthiswascertainlyaneffectivemethodofrestraint.

Footbindingbeganasaluxuryamongtherich;itmadethewomenmoredependentonothers

speciallyhardonthepoorwhoneededhelparound

venajustreasonforaman

tocalloffmarriageifhefoundoutthatthewomanthathadbeenarrangedforhimtomarrydid

thatfootbindingwastheonlyrightthingtodoforadaughter,

Manylowerclassfamilieswhoreallycouldnotaffordtobindtheirdaughtersfeet,duetotheloss

oflaborshewouldhavecontributedtothefamily,didsoananywayinhopesthatshewouldbe

ableto"marryup"dbecauthereareveryfewaccountsofwomen

omenwouldendupsufferingtryingtoworkinthefieldstottering

rwasobligatedtobindherdaughter’sfeetorshealmostcertainly

ndfootwomanhadtowalkwithallofherweightonherheels

sconsideredverycharming,sinceaboundfootwomanwas

largelyrestrictedtoherhome,nkingwasthatthe

boundfoot,onceitwasformed,couldnotbeunlockedlikeachastitybelt.

Speakingofchastity,boundfeetbecameamajoreroticzone."WhenaCelestialtakesintohis

handawoman'sfoot,especiallyifitisverysmall,theeffectuponhimisprecilythesameasis

provokedinaEuropeanbyayoungandfirmbosom..."Itwasbelievedthatthewayfootbinding

ls'buttocksand

"jadegate"werebelievedtodeveloptosuchadegreethatshecouldgripherhusband’s"jade

spear"lsothoughtthatwiththesmallerfeetthenervesweremore

andwritingsfromthis

periodexpressagreatinfatuationevenanobssionborderingonperversion,forsmallfeet.

Therewasalsoalargenumberofpornographicpaintingsandengravingswithscenesofmen

fondlingwomen''snowonderthatmenweresoadamantabouttheirwiveshavingbound

feet.

In1895,terbranchesofthe

anti-foon

pointoftheanti-footbindingsocietywasthatthepainawomanwentthroughinthefootbinding

ymemberswouldnotbind

theirdaughtersfeetandwouldregisterwiththesocietythenamesandagesofalltheirchildren.

eredmembers

reallowedtomarry

yin1911withtherevolutionofsun

,theendoffootbindingwasathand.

Inconclusion,owthat

itisremarkablethatitbeganatallandthatitlastedaslongasitdid,aboutonethousandyears.

Thefactthatthiscustombeganiscuriousbutevenmorecuriousisthefactthatitpermeatedso

ectthatfootbindinghad

renotableto

eshandinhandwiththeNeo-

Confucianteachingsofthetimewhichpreachedahierarchicalsocialorderstartinginthefamily

r,let'snotcondemnthispracticeforwe

yunderstandapracticesuchasfootbinding

wemustsuspendourownpersonaljudgmentand

attempttounderstandthiscustominChina'generationortwoago

eetwouldnotbebound

butitwasn'tuncommonforawomantobuyapairofshoesoneortwosizesdowntomakeher

tion,letusnot

forgetthospine-deformingcortsthatwerefashionableforsomanyyearsinEuropeand

y,withTattoosandbodypiercingeversopopularinAmericawhoareweto

enttowhichthewomenwenttoinordertohavethe

idealimagemayemunbelievabletoustoday,butwhatwillpeopleonethousandyearsfrom

nowthinkaboutourculturesbreastimplants,lipo-suctionandrhinoplasty?....Barbaric?........I

don'veit'sculturallyrelative.

Bibliography

RitaAero,ThingsChine,NewYork,Doubleday&Company,1980.

JohnKingFairbank,TheGreatChineRevolution:1800-1985.,NewYork,Harpor&Row,

1986.

SterlingSeagrave,TheSoongDynasty,NewYork,Harper&Roe,1985