Ban foot binding

 

Ban foot binding

 

In order to thank Agudengba for helping his daughter Yadan escape from the prostitute island in Bangladesh, the Burmese musician Dorje specially took his daughter to the bank of the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar where Agudengba, Azhuo, Chu Sanxing and others temporarily lived. Dorje also took his daughter His Naypyitaw Song and Dance Troupe Mongolian Dance Team and two temporary yurts were set up on the meadow.

Here, Dorje talked about many historical and cultural stories about Mongolia with friends such as Agudenba, Azhuo, Chu Sanxing, Dawa, and Xiang Qima, and held a meadow lecture for the Mongolian dance team.

Time passed by, and Dorje, his daughter Yadan, and the Mongolian dance team were preparing to return to Naypyitaw.

This is a farewell dinner.

At this dinner, Dorje and Agudengba announced a decision:

Dawa and Xiang Qima officially joined the Naypyitaw Song and Dance Troupe and will accompany Dorje and Yadan to Naypyitaw.

Agudengba, Adhuo, and Chu Sanxing set out for the Himalayas.

When they were about to break up, they continued to drink and dance, and their communication was still chatting about Mongolian folk customs and marriage stories.

But Dorji looked at the cheerful dance steps of his dance team members and said to Agudengba: I looked at their dance steps, and I still couldn’t get rid of the history of Chinese women’s “foot-binding” in my mind. In Chinese history textbooks, there are almost no historical records of Chinese women having their feet bound. Even though there are some legends about the "three-inch golden lotus" in folklore, most people may still be ignorant and do not know the actual practice of binding their feet. What is the situation?

Agudenba said:

Foot binding is a unique historical phenomenon in ancient Chinese society, and the devastation it has caused to Chinese women for thousands of years is unimaginable. There are many theories about the origin of foot binding. According to folklore, the first person to have feet bound was the vixen Daji. Because her feet had not yet fully transformed into human form, they needed to be wrapped with cloth. The academic community agrees that foot binding originated in the Five Dynasties, developed in the Song Dynasty, flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and was outlawed in the Republic of China.

Foot-binding is also known as "foot-binding," "foot-binding," and "pin-binding." Although it is impossible to know the exact year when it became popular, the earliest known era of foot-binding should be during the Northern Song Dynasty.

Before the Song Dynasty, the ancient Chinese people had a relatively open view of chastity. However, with the rise of Neo-Confucianism, especially after Cheng Yi proposed that "starving to death is a small matter, but indecency is a huge matter", foot binding was like the European "chastity belt". Become a guarantee of women's chastity. The bad luck of Chinese women also began.

There are many records about foot binding in the Song Dynasty. At that time, foot binding was popular among prostitutes in Huajie Street. Later, it gradually affected the daughters and wives of the upper class. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the culture of foot binding had become widespread among all classes of people. female.

Dorje said to Agudengba:

In the Song and Yuan dynasties, the pursuit of slim and straight feet was not the way of bending the feet as we imagine. It was not until the Ming Dynasty that the trend of bound feet became popular, and the pursuit of "bowed" foot shape was pursued. In the Qing Dynasty, it became even more popular. It was so horrible that the method of binding feet in the Qing Dynasty was called "bone binding". It was at this time that the well-known "three-inch golden lotus" shoes appeared. Women with bound feet were required to have their feet smaller than three inches to be beautiful.

Usually, foot binding begins when a girl is 5 to 8 years old. The mother or a close maid usually binds the girl's feet. After the girl washes her feet with hot water, she sits on a chair. While her feet are still warm, she quickly bends the other four toes, except the thumb, as far as possible toward the soles of the feet. Then, she wraps the bent feet tightly with a foot binding cloth. Then the foot-binding cloth is fixed with needle and thread, and the first stage is completed only after putting on the pointed-toe cloth shoes.

After a period of time, the most painful stage began. The footband had to be opened every three days. After opening, the bent toes would be pressed hard against the soles of the feet. The girl would even be forced to get off the chair and walk. All the weight of the whole body is pressed on the eight toes that are bent inward. At this stage, the pain will cause redness, swelling, and inflammation. If there are wounds, they will fester and become bloody. This stage needs to continue until the eight toes can naturally bend inward.

When the foot muscles atrophy and the necrotic skin falls off, the foot bones will begin to twist, making the foot shape arched. In the final stage, the insteps are made high and arched, and the soles of the feet are deeply sunk. They are bound with a footband and small shoes, and then fixed with bamboo strips like a plaster on a patient, and this lasts for half a year.

Agudengba said to Dorje:

In fact, every dynasty has both positive and negative opinions on foot-binding. Although some people continue to speak out against the custom of foot-binding, believing that girls are innocent for this crime, there are also those who are in favor of it and believe that only women with small feet are attractive, which affects the standards of mate selection at that time. , which makes parents have no choice but to bind their little girls' feet in order to prevent their daughters from being wanted in the future. What do you think about this?

Dorje said:

Chinese society has always been one in which men are superior to women. Once a woman's feet are bound, her movements are extremely inconvenient, and she cannot engage in production. She is trapped in the boudoir for a long time and becomes a complete accessory of men. Therefore, some people say that women must have their feet bound, otherwise they will be as strong as men and cannot be subdued by their husbands.

Ancient Chinese literati made no secret of their love for small feet. Su Shi's "Dongpo Ci·Bodhisattva Man·Yong's Feet" made him the first poet in Chinese history to publicly praise small feet. Even in the Republic of China, Gu Hongming, a master who claimed to have learned both China and the West, was still obsessed with small feet and could not extricate himself. The special habits of literati and poets also cause immeasurable damage to women.

What’s even more ridiculous is that in order to satisfy the various preferences of men, foot binding developed more than a dozen methods at its peak, and nine rating standards were established. But in general, “thin, small” Golden Lotus, which is "pointy, curved, fragrant, soft and upright" is what men like the most.

What I really don’t understand is why this cruel and boring custom has been popular in China for nearly a thousand years?

Agudengba said to Dorje:

After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, they ordered a ban on foot-binding. Not only did it have little effect, even many banner women also bound their feet. Banner people who bind their feet are called "Dao Tiao'er" or "Da Tiao'er". When Banner girls reach their teens, they will wrap their feet with white cloth to make the soles of their feet thin and narrow, and the toes gathered and slightly pointed. This method of foot binding only takes one month to complete, and the pain suffered is far less than that of Han women.

In the Qing Dynasty, some knowledgeable people in the Qing Dynasty were clearly aware of the dangers of foot-binding amid the world's enthusiasm for foot-binding. They tried to denounce the wrongs of foot-binding and opposed it from different angles. They can be said to be the forerunners of the Tianfei movement in the late Qing Dynasty.

Yuan Mei made the following remarks in "Yu Yan": "The transfer of customs begins with infection, and over time it is rooted in nature. Even men and women eat the same food and drink the same thing, but they have no unique opinions. It is very strange... Women What's so good about being small enough that the whole world is crazy about it? I think killing the children is enough to capture beauty, just like cremating the bones of parents for welfare. Sad man!"

Li Ruzhen criticized foot-binding in "Flowers in the Mirror": "I have heard that some women have their feet bound. When the binding begins, the girl is in all sorts of pain, stroking her feet and wailing, and even the skin becomes rotten and the flesh is rotten and dripping with blood. At this time, She couldn't sleep at night, couldn't eat, and various diseases arose from this. The boy thought that this girl might be unworthy, and her mother couldn't bear to put her to death, so she was treated with this method. Who knew that it was designed for beauty. If not, That is to say, it is not beautiful! If you cut off a big nose to make it smaller, and cut off a tall forehead to make it flat, people will definitely call it a cripple. Why is it that the two legs are incomplete and the walking is difficult, but it is still beautiful? For example, like Xizi and Wang Qiang, They are both extremely beautiful women, so why did they cut off half of their feet at that time? Looking at the reason carefully, how is it different from making prostitution tools?"

Dorje said:

In the early Qing Dynasty, some women also opposed foot binding. Yuan Mei's "Reply to a Friend on Marrying a Concubine" mentioned a woman. During the Qianlong period, Zhao Juntai of Hangzhou bought a concubine. There was a woman who was beautiful but did not have her feet bound. Zhao Juntai was not satisfied. He heard that this woman was talented and could write poems, so Zhao Juntai thought of her as a concubine. The woman was asked to compose a poem with the title of bow shoes, and the woman wrote a poem on the spot: "Three-inch bow shoes have not existed since ancient times. Master Guanyin squatted barefoot. I don't know where foot binding came from. It started from the mean husband in the world." From the poem, This woman is against foot binding.

Agudengba said to Dorje:

During the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, the Jesus Church founded by foreigners launched the Tianzu Movement. "Encouraging the Foot" compiled by Shi Ziwu, a "presbyterian scholar", was the first popular book to promote the practice of letting go. However, the Chinese at that time were very resistant to foreign churches, so although this book was pioneering, it had little impact.

During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, a practical movement to ban foot binding took place. Hong Xiuquan, the leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, advocated equal rights for men and women and advocated women's natural feet. When the Taiping Army entered Nanjing, he ordered that women were not allowed to bind their feet, and any offenders would be beheaded. Binding was indeed strictly prohibited in places controlled by the Taiping Army at that time. The Taiping Rebellion promoted anti-foot binding, but failed in the end. Hong Xiuquan forcibly promoted the foot-free movement in the name of gender equality. A large-scale ban on foot-binding occurred in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. However, unexpectedly, thousands of women in the Jiangnan area committed suicide by throwing themselves into the river.

By the end of the Qing Dynasty, due to the active promotion of missionaries in China, foot binding was regarded by intellectuals at that time as one of the symbols of China's social backwardness. They believed that foot binding caused the weakness of Chinese women, which in turn affected the strength of the entire nation and country. , therefore began to promote the anti-foot-binding movement and established many Tianfei Associations.

The Tianzu Movement against foot-binding that occurred in the late Qing Dynasty was launched by a group of reformers.

As early as the ninth year of Guangxu (1883), Kang Youwei united with some enlightened gentry in his hometown of Nanhai, Guangdong to establish the No-Foot-Binding Association. In the 22nd year of Guangxu (1896), Kang Youwei and Kang Guangren established the Central Guangdong Foot-Binding Association in Guangzhou to advocate women not to bind their feet. At the beginning of its establishment, the number of members exceeded 10,000.

Kang Youwei, one of the founders of the Reform Movement, wrote an article called "An Admonishment to Stop Binding Foot". He refused to bind his daughter's feet when she reached the age of foot-binding. However, he was strongly opposed by his hometown people. However, he still insisted not to bind his daughter's feet and became a famous activist. A great story from the modern anti-foot-binding movement. After that, Kang Youwei's daughter accompanied him on his travels and inspections in the West.

In early February 1902, the Empress Dowager Cixi issued an edict admonishing foot-binding, and said: "Han women tend to have their feet bound for a long time, which is harmful to the harmony of creation. We must give gentle advice in order to gradually eliminate the old habit."

Due to the public advocacy of the Qing court, the "no foot-binding" movement flourished in late Qing society, which enabled the liberation of those female compatriots who had suffered from foot-binding.

Both Hebei and Tianjin have established non-foot-binding associations founded by the Chinese themselves.

During the Tongzhi period, Xikun Xiongzi, a native of Sichuan, wrote "The World of Medicine" with 130,000 words, in which he vigorously denounced the wrongdoing of women's foot-binding. He also practiced it and none of his three daughters had their feet bound.

Another propagandist who actively engaged in the anti-foot-binding movement was the famous Zheng Guanying. He profoundly criticized the vulgar custom of foot-binding in "Warnings in the Prosperous Age: Women's Education".

From the period after the Opium War to Tongzhi and Guangxu, the movement against foot-binding has made great breakthroughs and developments compared with the previous stage. After this stage of propaganda and practice, the fate of foot-binding custom is inevitable. reverse.

But at this time, the opposition to foot-binding was still an individual activity, and only a few people were aware of it. By the end of Guangxu's reign, the anti-foot-binding movement entered a mature stage—it developed from individual activities to group movements, and from the consciousness of a few people to the general consciousness of the people.

Duoji raised the wine glass in his hand and said to Agudengba, Adhuo and Chu Sanxing:

Tomorrow, my daughter Yadan and I and the dance team are going back to Naypyitaw. Thank you Mr. Agudengba and Mr. Chu Sanxing for agreeing that Dawa and Xiang Qima officially join the Naypyitaw Song and Dance Troupe. They will also go to Naypyitaw to develop together. I will take good care of them.

Duoji called another strong young man and said to Agudengba, Adhuo and Chu Sanxing:

This strong young man is called Lacuo, and he is a very talented trader. In order to thank Mr. Agudengba, I will give you a horse team and a batch of goods. This horse team can be taken care of by Lacuo, who is also your guide on this journey. This horse team can supplement your travels along the way.

Lacuo raised his glass and walked up to Agudengba, Azhuo and Chu Sanxing and said:

My name is Lacuo and I am Tibetan. Not long ago, I went to Myanmar for business and met Mr. Dorje. Mr. Dorje hopes that I can travel with you when I return to Tibet. Tomorrow, we will be traveling together, and I am willing to be your loyal companion.

Yadan, Dawa, and Xiangqima also raised their glasses and stepped forward to express their thanks.

Yadan, Dawa, and Xiang Qima sang the song "Thanksgiving" together:

 

The years pass quietly,

Day after day,

Every step is desire,

Every tear is anticipation.

 

Life is like a dream,

There are always ups and downs in life,

Confusion surrounds the road ahead,

The road is so long.

 

Suddenly I met you,

Feel the sunshine shining in my heart,

You make my life brilliant,

No more hardship and danger.

 

You helped me out of the sea of suffering,

Raised the forward sail,

Your grace is countless,

I'll never forget it.