Foot bandaging

Cantonese style shoe made from silk and cotton. China, the turn of the XIX - XX centuries. Redpath Museum (Canada).

There are several legends about the origin of the custom of bandaging the feet ^[1] . According to one of the versions, the emperor's concubine from the Shang dynasty suffered from clubfoot , for this reason she asked the emperor to make the binding of feet to all girls obligatory; thus, her own legs became a model of beauty and elegance. Another legend says that Emperor Xiao Baojuan's favorite concubine, who had elegant legs, danced barefoot on a gold platform decorated with pearls and images of lotus flowers. The admired emperor exclaimed: “ From every touch of her legs lotuses bloom! ". Perhaps it was then that the expression “foot-lotus” or “golden lotus” appeared; however, the legend does not mention that the girl’s legs were bandaged ^[2] . However, in most cases, the occurrence of the custom of bandaging the legs is associated with the story of how Emperor Li Yu (937-978) asked one of his concubines, Yao Nyan, to band his legs in strips of white silk so that they resembled a crescent; then the girl danced the “lotus dance” at her fingertips ^{[3] [1]} . Women from high society began to imitate her, and then this practice became widespread ^{[4] [5]} .

Some researchers doubt the credibility of this legend. For example, the historian Lin Weihong believes that the custom of bandaging the legs appeared in China later, not earlier than the Song era (960-1,279) ^[5] . In any case, it is known that the custom of bandaging the legs became popular during the Song Dynasty. By the end of this era, the tradition of drinking from a shoe, in whose heels was a small glass, appeared. During the Yuan Dynasty, some men drank straight from their shoes; it was called “drain the golden lotus”. The tradition has survived to the time of the Qing Dynasty ^[1] .

A woman with bandaged legs was restricted in her ability to move independently, she was forced to stay at home and could not go anywhere without being accompanied by servants. She could not participate in politics and public life; she was dependent on her family and, above all, on the men of her family. For this reason, bandaged legs became a symbol of female chastity and male power ^[6] . In addition, a woman who was unable to move independently was a testament to the wealth and privileged position of her husband, since he could afford to keep his wife idle ^[7] . In the period of the Mongol conquest, the special shape of the Chinese woman's legs made it easy to distinguish them from the Mongolian and other " barbarians ", so that it became a sign of national identity. In addition, it was believed that the deformation of the legs improves the health of the woman and makes her more capable of childbearing ^[8] . Bandaged leg became a sign of beauty and a necessary attribute so that the girl could get married. For girls from poor families, this made it possible to enter into a profitable marriage . At the end of the 19th century in the province of Guangdong , it became customary for poor families to bandage the legs of the eldest of their daughters, which they prepared for the prestigious marriage (her younger sisters had homework and marriage with a peasant; they could also become concubines of richer men). The women themselves with bandaged legs, their families and their husbands were very proud of how small the deformed foot was ^[8] .

The ideal leg should not exceed 7 centimeters in length; such legs were called “golden lotuses” ^[9] . A foot length of 10 cm was called “silver lotus”, but if the length exceeded 10 cm - “iron lotus”. The foot should not look like a support for the body ^[3] .

According to the testimony of missionary , many poor people were ready for any hardships so that their daughters would have tiny legs necessary for a successful marriage ^[8] .

It is assumed that the custom of bandaging the feet is largely associated with the dominant Confucianism philosophy in medieval China. Confucius adhered to the ancient concept of " yin and yang ", in accordance with which a woman carried the beginning of "yin", that is, weakness and passivity. Deformation of the foot emphasized these qualities of a woman. In addition, Confucianism established a strict social hierarchy in which women were in a subordinate position in relation to men. The difficulty of independent movement for women limited their possibilities and thereby guaranteed the inviolability of this hierarchy ^[10] .

One of the defenders of the tradition of bandaging legs was the Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi (1130–1200), who believed that this custom should be extended beyond China, since it represents “the right relationship between a man and a woman” ^[11] .

Despite the strong influence of Chinese culture on neighboring states (Japan, Vietnam, Korea), the custom of foot bandaging did not take root in any of these countries ^[5] .

Some ethnic groups that did not belong to the Han people (the main ethnic group of China) practiced poor bandaging of the legs, in which the bones did not break, and the foot did not bend, but only narrowed. Among Hakka, foot bandaging has not been practiced at all ^[12] .

It was noted that the custom of bandaging legs existed until 1948 among the Dungans , who are Muslims who came to China from Central Asia ^[13] and was extremely common in the Hui ethnic group of the Gansu province ^[14] . In southern China, in the city of Guangzhou, James Legg discovered a mosque in which a poster hung condemning the custom of bandaging the feet and stating that Islam cannot allow what is destroying God's creation ^[15] .

In poor families, foot bandaging was not always tight, and it began later. In those areas of China where rice was grown, women participated in the work in the fields, and there the custom of bandaging the legs did not have such distribution as in the rest of China ^[11] . Many women with bandaged legs could walk, although it was harder for them than for those whose legs were not deformed. In the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century, performances with bandaged legs were very popular, and in circuses the actress with bandaged legs could stand on the backs of galloping horses ^[16] .

Process

Foot bandaging began before the girl's foot was fully formed. Most often, the legs began to bandage in the fall or winter, because the cold reduced sensitivity to pain and reduced the risk of infection ^{[17] [18]} . In rich families, on the day of the first bandaging of legs, the girl was provided with personal servants in order to care for her feet and carry her in her arms on days when the pain becomes too strong ^[11] .

It took about three years to form the “perfect leg”. The process of leg bandaging consisted of four stages ^[18] .

The first stage was called “an attempt to bandage” ^[18] . First of all, the girl's legs were washed with a warm mixture of herbal decoctions and animal blood in order to make the foot more flexible. Cotton bandages with a length of 3 meters and a width of 5 centimeters were also soaked in herbal broth and animal blood. Toenails were clipped as short as possible to prevent ingrown nails and, as a result, infection. After that, the foot bent so hard that the fingers pressed into the sole of the foot and broke. The bandage was applied in the form of “figure eight”, starting from the arch of the foot, then around the toes and finally around the heel. After each turn of the bandage, the dressing was tightly tightened ^[5] . The ends of the bandage were stitched to ensure that the bandage did not loosen, and then special socks and shoes with sharp noses were put on the girl's leg ^[18] . After this procedure, the girl was forced to walk, so that, under the weight of the body, the foot gradually acquired the desired shape ^[3] . In addition, walking was necessary to restore blood circulation in tightly bandaged legs. Every day the girl had to walk at least 5 kilometers (however, girls with especially small legs could not walk and the servants carried them until the end of their life) ^[18] .

The second stage (lasting more than half a year) was called “an attempt to delay”. At this stage, the bandages tightened all the more tightly, which increased the pain ^[18] . Broken fingers required constant care, so the bandages were removed periodically, the feet were washed in order to remove tissues affected by necrosis . Nails neatly trimmed. The feet were also massaged to bend more easily, sometimes they were subjected to blows in order to make the joints and broken bones more flexible ^[19] .

After washing, the leg was treated with alum and incense with different aromas ^[7] . Immediately after this procedure, the bandage was applied again, and the bandage was tightened even tighter. This process was repeated as often as possible (in wealthy families at least once a day, and in poor peasant families two or three times a week). This was usually done by older women from a girl’s family or professional foot bandagers. It was believed that mothers should not carry out this procedure, since the mother will feel pity for her daughter and will not be able to tighten the bandage tight enough ^[20] . There was a Chinese proverb: “A mother cannot love her daughter and her leg at the same time” ^[11] .

The third stage was called the "period of tight bandaging." At this stage, the toe of the leg gradually attracted to the heel, while the bones were bent and sometimes broke again ^[18] .

The fourth stage was called “arc bandaging”: its goal was to form a foot elevation so high that a chicken egg could fit under the arch of the foot. As a result, the shape of the foot began to resemble a stretched bow - it was considered very beautiful ^[18] .

After 4-5 years after the start of foot bandaging, the pain became less painful. However, the suffering caused by the deformation of the legs was so strong that the proverb “A pair of bandaged legs stands a bath of tears” appeared in China ^[5] .

At an older age, women themselves bandaged their legs ^[3] . This had to be done throughout life ^[18] .

In China, there were special chairs for bandaging feet. Each chair was equipped with a drawer in which bandages, nail clippers and other accessories were stored. In the back of the chair was a device for smoothing crumpled bandages ^[18] .

The most common problem was the occurrence of foot infections. Despite the fact that the nails are regularly trimmed, they often grow into the finger , causing inflammation and damaging the tissue of the finger. For this reason, the nails are sometimes removed. Also, several layers of dense fabric did not allow air to the foot ^[18] , and because of the too tight bandage, the blood circulation in the foot was disturbed, and the blood circulation in the toes disappeared altogether. As a result, the infectious processes in the fingers did not stop; Necrosis of tissues began. If the infection passed to the bones, then the fingers could have fallen off, it was considered favorable, because now the foot could be still tied up. If a girl had wider feet, sometimes fragments of glass or tile were stuck in them in order to provoke an infection and, as a result, tissue necrosis. Infection of the leg could lead to death from blood poisoning , but if the girl survived, then as an adult she had various diseases more often. At the beginning of the process, a significant portion of the foot bones remained often broken for several years. When the girl grew older, the bones began to grow together. However, even after the bones had grown together, they remained fragile and often broke again, especially during adolescence, when they were not strong enough. Adult women often suffered from fractures of the legs and thighs, since they were difficult to maintain balance in a standing position, and it was difficult to get up from a sitting position ^[21] . In 1997, a group of researchers compared older women with deformed and healthy legs. It was found that those women whose legs were deformed, often suffer from osteoporosis (their bone mass in the thigh bones was lower by 5.1% and in the spine by 4.7%), which means an increased risk of bone fracture . Moreover, the risk of falling is twice as high (38% vs. 19%) ^[3] .

In Chinese culture, deformed feet were considered very erotic. At the same time, the appearance of the female leg without shoes and bandages was considered indecent ^[18] . Some men chose never to see a woman’s leg without a bandage; for this reason, women constantly wore bandages and shoes. One of the Chinese authors wrote: “If you take off your shoes and bandage, then aesthetic pleasure will be forever destroyed” ^[19] . Women were allowed only at bedtime to slightly loosen the bandage and put on shoes with soft soles ^[22] . In China, erotic female images were distributed, decentially called “spring pictures”: the women themselves were naked on them, but there were shoes on their feet ^[18] .

In the classic Jin Ping Mei novel Plum Flowers in a Golden Vase , the tiny legs of the protagonist are repeatedly mentioned ^[23] :

• “Pan Jinlian, the sixth daughter of tailor Panya, who lived outside the southern gates of the city, was still beautiful in the girl. She was named Jinlian for her lovely little legs - “Golden Lily” ^{[Comm. 1]} .
• "... it is small, just half a hairpin, three gold lotus legs, three pointed, sharp-nosed, like an awl or tender lotus sprouts, stepping on fragrant pollen and dancing on spilled turquoise ..."
• “She is shod in shoes with clouds of embroidered white silk on a thick sole. Gracefully upturned up like an eagle claw their socks are sharp. Her golden lotuses - legs - walk like pollen, fragrant and delicate. ”

In the book of the time of the Qing Empire, forty-eight different erotic games with a female leg are described. ^[7] Including 11 different ways to touch the female leg were known. ^[24]

There was a classification describing 58 varieties of female legs, for example:

• divine - supremely plump, soft and graceful;
• marvelous - weak and subtle;
• immortal - direct, independent;
• precious - too wide, disproportionate;
• clean - too long and thin;
• seductive - flat, short, wide, round (the disadvantage of this leg was that its owner could withstand the wind);
• excessive - narrow, but not sharp enough;
• usual - plump, widespread type;
• wrong - ape-like big heel, giving the opportunity to climb ^[7] .

A small foot of perfect shape (with a sharp sock) was compared with the young month and with spring bamboo shoots. Было высказано мнение, что одним из сильнейших эротических наслаждений является созерцание крошечных следов от женских ног на снегу ^[18] .

Женщины с деформированными ногами избегали переносить тяжесть тела на носок и предпочитали наступать на пятку; по этой причине их походка становилась осторожной и неустойчивой. Марко Поло (1254—1324) писал, что длина шага китаянки не превышает полпальца ^[1] . Мужчины считали очень эротичной семенящую и покачивающуюся женскую походку-«лотос» ^[17] . В Китае говорили, что при ходьбе женщина с деформированными стопами напоминает «нежный ивовый побег, овеваемый весенним ветерком» ^[22] .

Посторонние мужчины не должны были видеть ступни ног замужней женщины, по этой причине юбки шились очень длинными. ^[24] Интересно, что деформация ног считалась залогом женского целомудрия (чему в средневековом Китае придавалось огромное значение), но одновременно с этим считалось, что она способствует развитию сексуальности женщины ^[11] . Например, атрофия стоп приводила к чрезмерной нагрузке на бёдра, они отекали, и мужчины воспринимали их как «пухлые и сладострастные» ^[7] . К тому же среди мужчин существовала эротическая фантазия о том, что подобная необычная походка укрепляет мышцы влагалища ^[11] и что постоянные мышечные спазмы, вызванные болью, делают влагалище более узким. Считалось, что прикосновение к ступне сексуально возбуждает женщину ^[18]

The custom of bandaging the legs was perceived by women as a necessity, since women with normal, undeformed legs were treated with contempt, calling them "barefoot" ^[1] . During the matchmaking, the bridegroom’s family was first interested in the size of the bride’s feet. If its length exceeded four crowns (approximately 13 cm ^[22] - a little longer than the middle finger of the hand ^[18] ), then the mother-in-law with a scornful gesture tore the skirt from the girl, and the guests made offensive remarks addressed to her ^[22] . A man had the right to terminate the engagement if it was found that the bride’s feet were not small enough ^[18] . Women with undeformed legs not only could not count on a successful marriage; in rich homes, only girls with bandaged legs could serve as hostesses, and those who had too much of a foot were forced to do harder and dirty work, for example, in the kitchen ^[1] . In addition, according to Chinese belief, if a woman did not have a husband, died childless and there was no one to care for her grave, then in her posthumous existence she turned into a “ hungry ghost ” and was doomed to wander forever without shelter. For this reason, for the sake of being able to marry, women agreed to endure the pain and other effects of bandaging their legs ^[3] . If the mother out of pity is not tight enough to bandage her daughter's legs, then as an adult she condemned the mother for weakness ^[22] .

Despite the popularity of the tradition of bandaging the feet, in some cases it has been criticized. For example, in the science fiction novel “ Flowers in the Mirror ” of the Chinese writer Li Zhuzhen (circa 1763 - ca. 1830), a hero, one of the ministers of the Kingdom of the Noble, arrived in China, is surprised:

“ I heard that in your country it has long been the custom to bandage female legs. At the very beginning, girls suffer terribly, clutching their legs, screaming, crying, their legs begin to rot, blood is flowing from them. Because of this, girls do not sleep at night and cannot eat; Because of this, all sorts of serious illnesses begin. I thought that these girls are naughty and their mothers are not so cruel to kill them, so they choose this method of punishment in order to correct them. And it turns out that this is done for the sake of beauty. Without this, you see, ugly! "

In this novel there is a chapter called “The Country of Women” in which men give birth to children and are subjected to foot bandaging ^[25] . The poet Yuan Mei wrote the work “What is the beauty of small legs? But the whole world is crazy about him. ” His follower, Yu Zhengens , opposed the practice of bandaging the feet, because it harms the health of women ^[5] .

After the Manchu dynasty came to power in China in 1663, the emperor issued a decree banning the bandaging of feet (1664) ^[26] . In 1668, this decree remained in force in relation to girls of Manchurian origin, but it was canceled in respect of Chinese women ^[5] . As a result, the proverb “Fashion is stronger than the emperor” appeared in China ^[18] . The shape of the foot has become an important feature that distinguishes the Manchu women from the women of the Han people. However, Chinese aesthetic perceptions exerted a strong influence on Manchu women who sought to imitate the special walk of Chinese women; for this purpose, they came up with their own form of shoes that allowed the woman to sway when walking. These shoes, called the “flower cup”, had a high platform and were usually made of wood, sometimes they had a slight elevation in the middle of the sole. The platform of the shoe was wedge-shaped and tapering downwards, so the woman’s protruding leg under the skirt seemed smaller than it actually was. ^{[5] [18]} .

In the Taiping rebel army (1850–1864), women were equal in rights with men, while Taiping banned the custom of bandaging girls' legs in controlled territories ^[27] .

In 1874, English missionary called for the destruction of the custom of bandaging the feet, this happened in the city of Xiamen . 60 Chinese-born Christian women responded to the call. One of the women, the mother of seven daughters, spoke first, she swore an oath that her daughters would never be subjected to bandaging of their feet, even if as a result they could not marry. At this meeting, it was decided to create the Society of the Heavenly Foot. "Heavenly foot" ( Chinese. 天足 , pinyin : tiānzú , pall .: Tianzu ) was called the leg of a natural form, "created by Heaven" (that is, God), as opposed to the deformed foot ( Chinese. Trad. Уп , ex. , Pinyin : chánzú , pall .: changzu ) ^[28] . In the following, the word "tianzu" became the all-Chinese symbol of the movement to ban foot bandaging ^[29] .

The McGowan initiative was supported by other Christian missionaries, including , who believed that Christianity could contribute to the movement for ^[30] .

During this period, educated Chinese began to realize that this aspect of their culture did not correspond to the progress of modern society. For example, the reformer Kan Yuwei introduced a bill banning the bandaging of feet ^[31] , and in 1883 he created (the first organization of this type) ^[32] . The philosopher Yan Fu called for reforms that would promote the healing of the nation, including he believed that opium smoking and foot bandaging should be banned (Yan Fu also believed that Chinese women should play sports that would help them give birth to healthy and strong children) ^{[ 33]} . The writer and social activist Su Manshu (1884–1918) translated the novel “The Miserable ” by Victor Hugo ; He introduced the character invented by himself who criticized Chinese traditions, including bandaging his feet. According to Su Manshu, this custom is barbaric; due to deformities of the feet, women cannot walk, and their legs “resemble a pig's hoof” ^[34] .

Adherents of the theory of social Darwinism used as an argument the idea that this tradition weakens the nation, because weak women cannot give birth to strong sons. Feminists have criticized this tradition for causing suffering to women ^{[11] [19]} . At the beginning of the 20th century, educated Chinese women, such as feminist , fought against the custom of bandaging their feet.

The government has also attempted to ban the bandaging of feet. Empress Cixi issued a similar decree to improve relations with foreigners, but soon the decree was canceled. In 1902, foot bandaging was prohibited by decree of the emperor of the Qing Dynasty ^[35] . In 1912, after the fall of the Qing dynasty, the new government of the Republic of China banned foot bandaging, however, as in previous cases, this initiative was not crowned with success. At the same time, some families who did not approve of the tradition of bandaging their legs agreed that a son from one family would marry a girl from another family, even if her legs would not be deformed according to custom ^[8] . There were "societies against bandaging the legs," their members promised not only not to band their daughters' feet, but also not to allow their sons to marry girls with deformed feet ^[11] .

When the communists came to power in 1949, they managed to achieve a total ban on bandaging their feet, including in remote rural areas whose residents did not comply with the relevant decree of the previous government. The ban on bandaging the legs exists in the present. In addition to the legislative ban, the mentality of the inhabitants of China has changed. In particular, special attention was paid to the development of sports , including women's. The victories of the Chinese athletes in the Olympics are a source of pride for compatriots. For this reason, the concept of femininity and female attractiveness has become incompatible with the deformation of the legs ^[10] . However, shoes for deformed feet continued to be produced, since women were still alive, whose legs were bandaged as a child. The last pair of shoes for the "golden lotuses" was sewn in 1999. After that, a solemn closing ceremony of the shoe factory was held, and the goods left in the warehouse were donated to the ethnographic museum ^[36] .

The evaluation of foot bandaging in modern society differs: in some cases, such as in the novel “ ” by American writer Pearl Buck , this custom is described neutrally; The author proceeds from respect for Chinese culture and believes that foreigners should not criticize it. In other cases, foreign authors express outrage at this tradition and call on the Chinese to destroy it ^[37] .

Chinese women wore special shoes, which were called “lotus shoes”. Their socks were tapered and resembled a lotus bud; while the shoes were so small that they fit in the palm of the hand. Sometimes the shoes had heels or wedge-shaped soles, so that the foot seemed even smaller. Shoes were usually sewn from cotton or silk, sometimes they were simple, but most often they were decorated with embroidered images of flowers, birds and animals. Sometimes embroidery was even on the soles, since it was understood that these shoes were not designed for walking ^[38] . Since sometimes the very appearance of a beautiful woman's shoe caused erotic arousal in men, the Chinese women attached great importance to making shoes. Often women themselves sewed their shoes, for this they had special wooden pads, made in the shape of their feet. The art of sewing and embroidery shoes have been trained since childhood. There were special chests for storing women's shoes. At night, women also had to wear shoes, night slippers had a soft sole, but they were shorter and narrower. Night slippers were often decorated with embroidered images of erotic content (which in China were called “pictures of the spring palace”). ^[24]

In the 17th-18th centuries, the fashion for Chinese style ( chinoiserie ) arose in France; including the so-called “ mules ” - small shoes (usually without a backdrop), imitating Chinese women’s shoes ^[39] and often very uncomfortable ^[40] . In the 17th century, mules were used as slippers; later, in the XVIII century, they began to be considered elegant shoes ^[41] . Chinese-style mules (for example, from colored morocco ) men were also worn as slippers ^[42] .

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  Mouly shoes, France, 18th century

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  Lady in muly shoes, France, 18th century

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  Lady in muly shoes, France, 18th century

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  Portrait of the Marquise de Pompadour in Mulley Shoes

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  Empress Catherine II's shoes

Muly later went out of fashion; they owed their rebirth to the French fashion designer ^19] (1913-1998) ^[41] , nicknamed “shoe Faberge ” ^[43] . Vivier once again made popular shoes without a backdrop, visually reducing the size of the foot ^[41] .

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  Modern Mules

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• Body modifications
• Foot fetishism
• Corset
• Padaung
• Artificial skull deformity

Comments

References and sources

Documentary films

• “Footbinding: In the Golden Inch of the Golden Inch” (2004) - a documentary film directed by Yue Qingyang.
• Golden Lotus: The Legacy of Bound Feet (2006) - a documentary video directed by Joan Cheng.

• San Chun Kin Lian: leg bandaging or “golden lotuses”
• http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/21/health/china-foot-binding-new-theory/index.html