Women's foot binding in the Yuan Dynasty

 

Women's foot binding in the Yuan Dynasty

 

When the Burmese musician Duoji and his friends Gudenba, Azhuo, Chu Sanxing, Dawa, Xiang Qima, etc. were having dinner in a makeshift yurt, his daughter Yadan expressed the hope of learning more about the Yuan Dynasty of the Mongolian people. Duoji, a custom of ancient Mongolians, told about the custom of women's foot binding in the Yuan Dynasty.

Dorje said:

During the Yuan Dynasty, although the Mongolian nobles did not bind their feet, they did not object to the habit. On the contrary, out of the need to rule, they admired and supported this evil custom.

From the Northern Song Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty, women's foot binding became a weird fashion.

At first, when the Jurchens were fighting against the Song Dynasty, they took pleasure in obtaining women with bound feet. According to the records of "Jin Yu Lu": "Jin Wushu Lue (plundered) Su... women over thirty and under thirty who had not bound their feet and those who had given birth were all killed", leaving only young and childless women with bound feet. .

So, the Jin Dynasty, which drove the rulers of the Northern Song Dynasty out of the Central Plains and occupied half of the country, was founded by the Jurchens. How do the Jurchens view the foot-binding custom of the Han people? We have to start with the history and cultural customs of the Jurchens.

The Jurchens generally refer to the Jurchen tribe, also known as Ligustrum and Nvzhi, which originated from Sushen more than 3,000 years ago. They were called Yilou from the Han Dynasty to the Jin Dynasty, Wuji during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Heishui Mohe from the Sui to Tang Dynasties, and were called Heishui Mohe from the Sui Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty. Called "Jurchen". The period when the Jurchens basically formed their national form was probably during the Tang Dynasty. Hunting still plays an important role in the Jurchens' social economy.

In 1115, Wanyan Aguda unified the Jurchen tribes, expelled the Khitan rule, and established the Jin Dynasty. The country's name is "Dajin". After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Dajin launched a war to destroy the Liao Dynasty with the five capitals of Liao Dynasty as its strategic goal. After that, the Jin Dynasty faced the Mongols in the north and the Song Dynasty in the south. Under the attack of the Mongols, the capital Jinzhongdu (modern Beijing) had to be moved to Kaifeng.

In 1234, the Mongols destroyed the Jin Dynasty. After the fall of the Jin Dynasty, the Jurchens were still scattered in Guandong, but they became a ruled nation of the Mongolian Khanate. After Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty, the Jurchens were residents under the jurisdiction of the Yuan Dynasty.

Later, when the Jurchens came into contact with Han culture, Jurchen women also began to bind their feet. As a result, the foot-binding trend in the Yuan Dynasty continued to develop, and the foot-binding of women in the Yuan Dynasty continued to develop in a smaller direction.

The Yuan Dynasty issued bans in the Jurchen region, including bans on massacres, alcohol, bows and arrows (hunting), and gold and silver production. Most of these bans were issued to prevent the Jurchens from resisting. This is not only reflected in the fact that these bans were issued in the early Yuan Dynasty, but were successively lifted as the rule of the Yuan Dynasty consolidated throughout the country. The last two bans are particularly illustrative of this essence. Because hunting and the production of gold and silver are normal social production, and hunting is also a traditional social production department for the Jurchens to meet their needs for food and clothing, the edict prohibits it. This is obviously because these two types of production are closely related to "strengthening the army" and manufacturing weapons. .

Dorje added:

However, the Yuan Dynasty government did not issue regulations prohibiting foot binding. This is related to the Mongolians beginning to widely accept Han Neo-Confucianism. The universal values ​​of Neo-Confucianism influenced the Mongols, so "foot-binding" naturally became widely spread among the people. " concept.

What is incomprehensible is Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, which advocated "men are superior to women". The great scholar Zhu Xi was the driving force behind the idea of foot-binding. However, the great Neo-Confucian scholar Cheng Yi of the Northern Song Dynasty and the Cheng family insisted on not binding feet or ears until the Yuan Dynasty. Definitely oppose foot binding. It is recorded in the Yuan Dynasty notebook "Zhanyuan Jingyu".

When foot binding developed into the Yuan Dynasty, foot binding began to have the connotation of gender oppression. For example, "Langhuan Ji" written by Yi Shizhen of the Yuan Dynasty said: "I heard that the saint established a woman and made it difficult for her to do anything lightly, so she bound her feet. If you can't live in the boudoir, and if you want to go out, you will have to carry a chariot, so there is nothing to do."

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the concept of "it is shameful not to bind feet" emerged, and the foot-binding trend continued to develop in the Yuan Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, the practice of women's foot binding entered a period of prosperity and developed rapidly in various places.

Duoji sang a folk song "Tears of Binding Feet":

 

A pair of natural feet,

Forced foot binding,

Who knows the hatred of foot binders?

 

Spring comes and winter goes,

Farm work continues,

How did the foot-binders work?

 

The mountain road is rugged,

The vast wilderness,

How difficult is it for a person with small feet to walk?

 

palace maids and prostitutes,

Twist your waist,

Whose feet are bound for fun?

 

Three-inch golden lotus,

Graceful dance steps,

Who can be seduced by her coquettish appearance?

 

Men of letters,

Reciting poems and writing lyrics,

Who is singing the praises of bound feet?

 

Gently close the wood door,

Weeping on the pillow,

Who will pity the woman with bound feet?

 

The pain of bound feet,

It's hard to move even an inch,

Who is the romantic emperor?

 

Flowers and moon shadows,

Desolate and cold,

Who knew I was lonely in my heart?