China Studies Wiki - User contributions [en]

Footbinding

2013-04-16T04:20:46Z

Mallory W: /* How to Bind Feet */

[[File:1_footbinding.jpg|250px|thumb|left|Photo of Chinese woman with bound feet]]
There is some disagreement about when footbinding began in China. It has been suggested that it began as early as the Shang Dynasty and as late as the Song Dynasty.(Ebrey, 160) At the very least though, the custom lasted for well over a thousand years, until well into the 20th Century. These pictures are all of women from the late 19th or early 20th Century

[[File:5_footbinding.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Size comparison: regular size woman's shoe (from WWI era), woman's bound feet & a teacup. Photo by by otisarchives3.Click [http://www.flickr.com/photos/22719239@N04/2283064557/sizes/l/in/photostream/ here] for original source.]]

These pictures show only the result of footbinding, not the terrible and excruciatingly painful process by which these result were obtained.

=Origins=
Even though there are some disagreements about when exactly footbinding began, there is a general time frame for when it likely started. Footbinding possibly originated during the fifty years between the Tang and Song dynasties, roughly 907-959 A.D. During this time it wasfashionable for women to walk slowly and sway. Also,both men and women compressed their feet moderately. Between 750-1100 A.D. footbinding became a female custom and spread to all parts of society. The practice originated in the north, and followed the migration patterns and moved its way south. Footbindng did not become as prevalent in the South as it did in the North, primarily due to the fact that women were a larger part of the labor force in the South(Greenhalgh 8)

During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.), footbinding received popular and official sanction. By the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912 A.D.) the custom of footbinding was so prevalent that when the first Manchu Emperor in 1644 attempted to ban the custom, but failed. In the nineteenth century, footbinding reached its highest prevelance. This is an interesting fact considering the ruling dynasty did not practice footbinding. (Greenhalgh 8)

=== Story of First Footbinding ===

In the Southern Tang Dynasty (961-975 A.D.), the court of the Emperor Li Yu had a large number of courtesans and dancers. Among these dancers, Li Yu had a favorite. Her name was Yao-niang. Li Yu built her a six foot high golden lotus. This golden lotus was covered with jewels, pearls, and golden threads. Li Yu then ordered Yao-niang to bind her feet with strips of white silk, making them small, graceful, and in the shape of the crescent moon. Yao-niang was then supposed to dance on this golden lotus. (Greenhalgh 8-9)

After this, the term "golden lotus" became a euphemism for bound feet, because of the resemblance between a bound foot and a lotus. The bound foot became the aesthetic ideal and fashionable. (Greenhalgh, 9)

Even though it is not necessarily known who bound the first feet, The story of the first bound foot shows what the ideal was for the custom of footbinding.

=Who Had Their Feet Bound?=
Footbinding could be seen in girls and women throughout the different social classes, however it was seen less in lower social classes becuase of the need for women being able to work. Footbinding usually began around age five or six. However, in upper class footbinding sometimes started at age three, and in lower classes it did not happen until the age twelve or thirteen. This process was always done by the mother or grandmother. Mothers did this to their daughter in hopes of finding a husband for their daughters and to keep or raise the family's social standing.(Greenhalgh, 9)

Even though footbinding custom and was done in lower class families, it was not always economically possible to bind the feet of all the daughters. In the lower class, the daughters feet were only bound if there was hope for marrying them into higher status families. In this situation, girls feet were bound late compared to girls in higher-class families. The bindings on these girls were not bound nearly as tight which allowed the girls to do household chores, work in fields, or find indoor employment. (Greenhalgh, 8)

For the families that could not afford to bind their daughters feet, the feet were left normal. These girls then worked in the fields or in shops of carpenters or blacksmiths. (Greenhalgh, 8)

=How to Bind Feet=
[[File:6_Shanghai_1900_by_Okinawa_Soba.jpg|225px|thumb|left|Chinese woman from Shanghai 1900 shows her bound feet]]
[[File:7_shanghai.jpg|250px|thumb|right|top view of the feet of the woman from Shanghai unwrapped and shown next to the foot of a typical woman with unbound feet.]]
[[File:9_footbinding.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Now for a look at the bottom of her feet]]
[[File:10_footbinding.jpg|250px|thumb|right|close up of typical bound feet.]]
[[File:footbinding_schema.JPG|600px|thumb|right|Comparison of a normal foot and a foot that has gone through the footbinding process. Image by Marco L.]]

When a young girl was about 6 years old her feet would be bound for the first time. First, her feet would usually be soaked in a mixture of liquids (the ingredients varied- anything from plain water to animal blood) believed to soften the bones for the work ahead. Then, her toenails were cut and her four smaller toes were folded under the main part of the foot and tightly wrapped. (Often the bones in these toes were broken at this time. If they were not broken now, they would be later.) Then the entire foot was tightly wrapped around both the foot and the ankle, to draw the ball of the foot as close as possible to the heel. As the wrappings dried, the foot would be bound even tighter pulling the ball of the foot even closer to the heel and deforming (sometimes even breaking) the arch of the foot. The young girl would be required to walk on her bound feet, breaking the smaller toes, if not already broken. Eventually, if the procedure did not cost her her life, her feet would heal in the new position. The pain would never entirely go away. Frequently her feet would became infected and sometimes some of the flesh would die and need to be removed. This was considered a good thing because it allowed the foot to be bound even more tightly. All of this so that a mother could give her daughter the smallest possible feet, ideally 3 inches long (Ebrey,160)

Here is an account of the footbinding process from someone who endured the process:

"Born into an old-fashioned family at P'ing-hsi,

I was inflicted with the pain of footbinding when I

was was seven years old . . . I wept and hid in a neighbor's

home, but mother found me, scolded me, and

dragged me home. She shut the bedroom door, boiled

water, and from a box withdrew binding, shoes, knife,

needle, and thread . . . She washed and placed alum

on my feet and cut the toenails. She then bent my

toes toward the plantar with a binding cloth ten

feet long and two inches wide, doing the right foot

first and then the left. She finished binding and

ordered me to walk, but when I did the pain proved

unbearable.

That night, mother wouldn't let me remove the

shoes. My feet felt on fire and I couldn't sleep;

mother struck me for crying . . . The feet were

washed and rebound after three or four days, with

alum added. After several months, all toes but the

big one were pressed against the inner surface . . .

Mother would remove the bindings and wipe the blood

and pus which dripped from my feet. She told me

that only with removal of the flesh could my feet

become slender. If I mistakenly punctured a sore,

the blood gushed like a stream.

Every two weeks, I changed to new shoes. Each

new pair was one- to two-tenths of an inch smaller

than the previous one . . . After changing more than

ten pairs of shoes, my feet were reduced to a little

over four inches . . . Four of the toes were curled

in like so many dead caterpillars; no outsider

would ever have believed that they belonged to a

human being. It took two years to achieve the

three-inch model . . ." (Greenhalgh, 9)

By reading an account of the process from someone who actually endured it, makes it a little easier to understand what women went through. About one out of ten girls died from the process of footbinding, or the effects it had after it was done. A higher percentage of the deaths from footbinding would have occured in the countryside. This was due to the fact that in the countryside there was not as much knowledge on how to fight infections.(Greenhalgh, 9-10)

=Care of Bound=
[[File:12_footbinding.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Not just in China. This woman is from Toronto. Click [http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasfisherlibrary/6235264222/sizes/l/in/photostream/ here] for original source.]]
[[File:footbinding_shoes.JPG|250px|thumb|right|Photo of the type of shoes women with bound feet wore. Photo by Queensland Museum]]
[[File:14_shoes_for_manchu_unbnd_ft_women-_walk_like_bound.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Example of shoes, for women whose feet were not bound, designed to help them walk like women with bound feet.]]
The pain from footbinding never fully went away. Only women who had mothers who were skilled at the process had the pain subside after a year or two. At this time, it became the woman's job to care for her bound feet. Caring for bound feet was always done in private, because the possibility of someone seeing the unbound foot was considered taboo.(Greenhalgh, 10)

Once a week, women would soak their bandaged feet in hot water. They would then remove the bandages, and any dead skin or calluses would be rubbed and cut off. Women also had to perfume their feet in order to hide the smell. The feet were then kneaded into the desired shape, dusted with alum, and rebound quickly in order to preserve the shape. (Greenhalgh, 10)

Embroidered shoes with one or two inch wooden heels were worn. The shoes were shaped in order to help women walk with their now mishaped feet. The heels helped balance and support the body. Women usually had more than one pair of shoes, if they could afford them, including a pair for special occasions. (Greenhalgh, 10)

The ankles of women with bound feet were affected the footbinding process. Ankles were swollen and deformed, and in order to hide this women wore leggings which were fastened above the calf and hung down far enough just to show the tiny foot in its embroidered shoes.(Greenhalgh, 10)

Walking on these poor feet, was an exercise in pain. After all, the women's toes were now tucked into the sole of her feet. To walk, she either had to walk on her toes, or, learn to walk on just her heels (It is not easy to do.) Walking only on your heals gave these women a certain characteristic walk. Women whose feet were not bound, wanted to be able to walk the same way. So, they created special shoes to help them.

=Role in Marriage=
[[File:4_footbinding.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Mother & daughter- compare the size of their feet]]
One of the main roles footbinding played was increasing the marriagablilty of the daughters in a household. Marriage was a way to assure continuity of the patrilineal line. When a family had a daughter, their concern was to raise her as cheaply as possible. This was due to the fact that girls left the family and could not help the family economically. This meant the main task for the family was to ensure that their daughters would marry into a good family. In order to make a daughter marriageable they had to be brought up in strict accordance of correct female behavior. The correct way for women behave was outlined in the Three Obediences and the Four Virtues.

'''Three Obediences''':

''Before a woman is married she must obey her father''

''When married, she must live for her husband''

''And as a widow she must serve her sons''

The three obediences were in ''Precepts for Women'' in the 2nd Century A.D. by Nu Chieh.(Greenhalgh, 12)

'''Four Virtues''':

''Woman’s Behavior: chaste and yielding, calm and upright''

''Woman’s Speech: not talkative, yet agreeable''

''Woman’s Carriage and Appearance: restrained and exquisite''

''Woman’s Occupation: handiwork, embroidery.'' (Greenhalgh, 12)

Women had to follow the standard of how they were supposed to live because there was no socially acceptable alternative for getting married, other than becoming a concubine. The goal of parents was to rear daughter to make best marriage match possible. The best marriage was usually to someone of a higher social status. The advantage of marrying a daughter into a family of higher status was political. By marrying thier daughter to a higher social status,the family was either able to get someone from the family into a political office, or they would now have a member of the daughters family in a political office. By knowing someone in a political, members of the brides family would be able to get immunity from political exploitation. (Greenhalgh, 13)

There were also a few economic benefits of marrying a daughter to a family of higher status. The primary economic gaim was a gift of money the grooms family sent to the brides family. The brides famiily also could possibly get loans or have business deals with the grooms family. Even with the possible financial gains, the political gains were better for the family. (Greenhalgh, 13)

Along with the family benefits, there were benefits for the bride if she married a man in a higher social status. The higher she married, the less physical work she would have to do. (Greenhalgh, 13)

When a woman married, she moved into her husbands family "compound." There lived her and her husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and any brothers of her husband and their wives. In this living situation, the mother-in-law held all the domestic power. By a having their feet bound prevented women from becoming disruptive. Women were continuously under the watchful eye of the mother-in-law and were unable to wander and earn any money of their own. Women in this situation also had little say in the decisions that affected their lives because of the control her in-laws held. (Greenhalgh, 14)

At some point, the family compound would be split up into separate households. This was not a good thing for the mother-in-law because she lost the power she held over her daughter-in-laws. This change of living situations was beneficial to the daughter-in-law because she now had control over her own life. (Greenhalgh, 15)

Footbinding became a self-repetitive cycle. "The family system demanded footbound wives to do its domestic and reproductive tasks: and footbound wives, physically constrained from doing otherwise, reinforced the power structures which strengthened the system." (Greenhalgh, 15)

=End of Footbinding=

[[File:8_footbinding.jpg|200px|thumb|left|typical bound foot. The toes have been wrapped so completely under the foot that they are visible on the opposite side]]
[[File:11_footbinding.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Chinese woman with bound feet compared with another woman's unbound feet (she turned one foot so that the side view could be seen]]

Footbinding wasn't always legal in China. The Qing Dynasty outlawed footbinding, but the law was mostly ignored and women continued to bind their daughter's feet. The Qing Dynasty was not run by Han Chinese, and therefore they did not practice the footbinding custom.

Reform for footbinding did not come from within China, it came from the intrusion of Western imperialism in the 19th century. Western missionaries and urban,upperclass Chinse began to put together natural-foot societies. These societies sent out pamphlets with propaganda such as:

"The present is no time of peace. Foreign women have natural feet; they are daring, and can defend themselves; whilst Chinese women have bound feet, and are too weak even to bear the weight of their own clothes..." (Greenhalgh, 15)

During this time of reform, there also was an increase in industrialization. Industrialization created jobs for women outside of the home. With new work outside of the family compound, women with bound feet not as able to get out. This led to women with unbound feet able to get of the house. The custom of binding feet slowed modernization because it kept such a large number of possible workers at home. (Greenhalgh, 15)

The increase of Westerners also influenced the downfall of footbinding. Footbinding was ridiculed by Westerners, and in order to prevent national humiliation, the custom of footbinding needed to be given up. New leaders in 1912 after overthrowing Manchu dynasty passed number of strict anti-footbinding decrees. (Greenhalgh, 16)

'''1929 survey''':

2.3% girls born before 1900 had unbound feet

95.1% girls born after 1910 had unbound feet

This survey shows the dramatic decrease in custom of footbinding. Women who already had bound feet were unlikely to follow laws and unbind their feet. This was primarily because of the pain and slim chance foot would regain natural shape. (Greenhalgh, 16)

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

= Classroom Presentation =
[[Media:Footbinding.pptx]] by Mallory Wilsted

= Works Cited =
Ebrey, Patrica Buckley. "The Cambridge Illustrated History of China". New York, Cambridge University Press, 2010, 2d ed.

Greenhalgh, Susan. “Bound Feet, Hobbled Lives: Women in Old China.” ''Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies''. Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring, 1977), pp. 7- 21

Footbinding

2013-04-16T04:18:02Z

Mallory W: /* Care of Bound */

[[File:1_footbinding.jpg|250px|thumb|left|Photo of Chinese woman with bound feet]]
There is some disagreement about when footbinding began in China. It has been suggested that it began as early as the Shang Dynasty and as late as the Song Dynasty.(Ebrey, 160) At the very least though, the custom lasted for well over a thousand years, until well into the 20th Century. These pictures are all of women from the late 19th or early 20th Century

[[File:5_footbinding.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Size comparison: regular size woman's shoe (from WWI era), woman's bound feet & a teacup. Photo by by otisarchives3.Click [http://www.flickr.com/photos/22719239@N04/2283064557/sizes/l/in/photostream/ here] for original source.]]

These pictures show only the result of footbinding, not the terrible and excruciatingly painful process by which these result were obtained.

=Origins=
Even though there are some disagreements about when exactly footbinding began, there is a general time frame for when it likely started. Footbinding possibly originated during the fifty years between the Tang and Song dynasties, roughly 907-959 A.D. During this time it wasfashionable for women to walk slowly and sway. Also,both men and women compressed their feet moderately. Between 750-1100 A.D. footbinding became a female custom and spread to all parts of society. The practice originated in the north, and followed the migration patterns and moved its way south. Footbindng did not become as prevalent in the South as it did in the North, primarily due to the fact that women were a larger part of the labor force in the South(Greenhalgh 8)

During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.), footbinding received popular and official sanction. By the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912 A.D.) the custom of footbinding was so prevalent that when the first Manchu Emperor in 1644 attempted to ban the custom, but failed. In the nineteenth century, footbinding reached its highest prevelance. This is an interesting fact considering the ruling dynasty did not practice footbinding. (Greenhalgh 8)

=== Story of First Footbinding ===

In the Southern Tang Dynasty (961-975 A.D.), the court of the Emperor Li Yu had a large number of courtesans and dancers. Among these dancers, Li Yu had a favorite. Her name was Yao-niang. Li Yu built her a six foot high golden lotus. This golden lotus was covered with jewels, pearls, and golden threads. Li Yu then ordered Yao-niang to bind her feet with strips of white silk, making them small, graceful, and in the shape of the crescent moon. Yao-niang was then supposed to dance on this golden lotus. (Greenhalgh 8-9)

After this, the term "golden lotus" became a euphemism for bound feet, because of the resemblance between a bound foot and a lotus. The bound foot became the aesthetic ideal and fashionable. (Greenhalgh, 9)

Even though it is not necessarily known who bound the first feet, The story of the first bound foot shows what the ideal was for the custom of footbinding.

=Who Had Their Feet Bound?=
Footbinding could be seen in girls and women throughout the different social classes, however it was seen less in lower social classes becuase of the need for women being able to work. Footbinding usually began around age five or six. However, in upper class footbinding sometimes started at age three, and in lower classes it did not happen until the age twelve or thirteen. This process was always done by the mother or grandmother. Mothers did this to their daughter in hopes of finding a husband for their daughters and to keep or raise the family's social standing.(Greenhalgh, 9)

Even though footbinding custom and was done in lower class families, it was not always economically possible to bind the feet of all the daughters. In the lower class, the daughters feet were only bound if there was hope for marrying them into higher status families. In this situation, girls feet were bound late compared to girls in higher-class families. The bindings on these girls were not bound nearly as tight which allowed the girls to do household chores, work in fields, or find indoor employment. (Greenhalgh, 8)

For the families that could not afford to bind their daughters feet, the feet were left normal. These girls then worked in the fields or in shops of carpenters or blacksmiths. (Greenhalgh, 8)

=How to Bind Feet=
[[File:6_Shanghai_1900_by_Okinawa_Soba.jpg|250px|thumb|left|Chinese woman from Shanghai 1900 shows her bound feet]]
[[File:7_shanghai.jpg|250px|thumb|right|top view of the feet of the woman from Shanghai unwrapped and shown next to the foot of a typical woman with unbound feet.]]
[[File:9_footbinding.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Now for a look at the bottom of her feet]]
[[File:10_footbinding.jpg|250px|thumb|right|close up of typical bound feet.]]
[[File:footbinding_schema.JPG|600px|thumb|right|Comparison of a normal foot and a foot that has gone through the footbinding process. Image by Marco L.]]

When a young girl was about 6 years old her feet would be bound for the first time. First, her feet would usually be soaked in a mixture of liquids (the ingredients varied- anything from plain water to animal blood) believed to soften the bones for the work ahead. Then, her toenails were cut and her four smaller toes were folded under the main part of the foot and tightly wrapped. (Often the bones in these toes were broken at this time. If they were not broken now, they would be later.) Then the entire foot was tightly wrapped around both the foot and the ankle, to draw the ball of the foot as close as possible to the heel. As the wrappings dried, the foot would be bound even tighter pulling the ball of the foot even closer to the heel and deforming (sometimes even breaking) the arch of the foot. The young girl would be required to walk on her bound feet, breaking the smaller toes, if not already broken. Eventually, if the procedure did not cost her her life, her feet would heal in the new position. The pain would never entirely go away. Frequently her feet would became infected and sometimes some of the flesh would die and need to be removed. This was considered a good thing because it allowed the foot to be bound even more tightly. All of this so that a mother could give her daughter the smallest possible feet, ideally 3 inches long (Ebrey,160)

Here is an account of the footbinding process from someone who endured the process:

"Born into an old-fashioned family at P'ing-hsi,

I was inflicted with the pain of footbinding when I

was was seven years old . . . I wept and hid in a neighbor's

home, but mother found me, scolded me, and

dragged me home. She shut the bedroom door, boiled

water, and from a box withdrew binding, shoes, knife,

needle, and thread . . . She washed and placed alum

on my feet and cut the toenails. She then bent my

toes toward the plantar with a binding cloth ten

feet long and two inches wide, doing the right foot

first and then the left. She finished binding and

ordered me to walk, but when I did the pain proved

unbearable.

That night, mother wouldn't let me remove the

shoes. My feet felt on fire and I couldn't sleep;

mother struck me for crying . . . The feet were

washed and rebound after three or four days, with

alum added. After several months, all toes but the

big one were pressed against the inner surface . . .

Mother would remove the bindings and wipe the blood

and pus which dripped from my feet. She told me

that only with removal of the flesh could my feet

become slender. If I mistakenly punctured a sore,

the blood gushed like a stream.

Every two weeks, I changed to new shoes. Each

new pair was one- to two-tenths of an inch smaller

than the previous one . . . After changing more than

ten pairs of shoes, my feet were reduced to a little

over four inches . . . Four of the toes were curled

in like so many dead caterpillars; no outsider

would ever have believed that they belonged to a

human being. It took two years to achieve the

three-inch model . . ." (Greenhalgh, 9)

By reading an account of the process from someone who actually endured it, makes it a little easier to understand what women went through. About one out of ten girls died from the process of footbinding, or the effects it had after it was done. A higher percentage of the deaths from footbinding would have occured in the countryside. This was due to the fact that in the countryside there was not as much knowledge on how to fight infections.(Greenhalgh, 9-10)

=Care of Bound=
[[File:12_footbinding.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Not just in China. This woman is from Toronto. Click [http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasfisherlibrary/6235264222/sizes/l/in/photostream/ here] for original source.]]
[[File:footbinding_shoes.JPG|250px|thumb|right|Photo of the type of shoes women with bound feet wore. Photo by Queensland Museum]]
[[File:14_shoes_for_manchu_unbnd_ft_women-_walk_like_bound.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Example of shoes, for women whose feet were not bound, designed to help them walk like women with bound feet.]]
The pain from footbinding never fully went away. Only women who had mothers who were skilled at the process had the pain subside after a year or two. At this time, it became the woman's job to care for her bound feet. Caring for bound feet was always done in private, because the possibility of someone seeing the unbound foot was considered taboo.(Greenhalgh, 10)

Once a week, women would soak their bandaged feet in hot water. They would then remove the bandages, and any dead skin or calluses would be rubbed and cut off. Women also had to perfume their feet in order to hide the smell. The feet were then kneaded into the desired shape, dusted with alum, and rebound quickly in order to preserve the shape. (Greenhalgh, 10)

Embroidered shoes with one or two inch wooden heels were worn. The shoes were shaped in order to help women walk with their now mishaped feet. The heels helped balance and support the body. Women usually had more than one pair of shoes, if they could afford them, including a pair for special occasions. (Greenhalgh, 10)

The ankles of women with bound feet were affected the footbinding process. Ankles were swollen and deformed, and in order to hide this women wore leggings which were fastened above the calf and hung down far enough just to show the tiny foot in its embroidered shoes.(Greenhalgh, 10)

Walking on these poor feet, was an exercise in pain. After all, the women's toes were now tucked into the sole of her feet. To walk, she either had to walk on her toes, or, learn to walk on just her heels (It is not easy to do.) Walking only on your heals gave these women a certain characteristic walk. Women whose feet were not bound, wanted to be able to walk the same way. So, they created special shoes to help them.

=Role in Marriage=
[[File:4_footbinding.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Mother & daughter- compare the size of their feet]]
One of the main roles footbinding played was increasing the marriagablilty of the daughters in a household. Marriage was a way to assure continuity of the patrilineal line. When a family had a daughter, their concern was to raise her as cheaply as possible. This was due to the fact that girls left the family and could not help the family economically. This meant the main task for the family was to ensure that their daughters would marry into a good family. In order to make a daughter marriageable they had to be brought up in strict accordance of correct female behavior. The correct way for women behave was outlined in the Three Obediences and the Four Virtues.

'''Three Obediences''':

''Before a woman is married she must obey her father''

''When married, she must live for her husband''

''And as a widow she must serve her sons''

The three obediences were in ''Precepts for Women'' in the 2nd Century A.D. by Nu Chieh.(Greenhalgh, 12)

'''Four Virtues''':

''Woman’s Behavior: chaste and yielding, calm and upright''

''Woman’s Speech: not talkative, yet agreeable''

''Woman’s Carriage and Appearance: restrained and exquisite''

''Woman’s Occupation: handiwork, embroidery.'' (Greenhalgh, 12)

Women had to follow the standard of how they were supposed to live because there was no socially acceptable alternative for getting married, other than becoming a concubine. The goal of parents was to rear daughter to make best marriage match possible. The best marriage was usually to someone of a higher social status. The advantage of marrying a daughter into a family of higher status was political. By marrying thier daughter to a higher social status,the family was either able to get someone from the family into a political office, or they would now have a member of the daughters family in a political office. By knowing someone in a political, members of the brides family would be able to get immunity from political exploitation. (Greenhalgh, 13)

There were also a few economic benefits of marrying a daughter to a family of higher status. The primary economic gaim was a gift of money the grooms family sent to the brides family. The brides famiily also could possibly get loans or have business deals with the grooms family. Even with the possible financial gains, the political gains were better for the family. (Greenhalgh, 13)

Along with the family benefits, there were benefits for the bride if she married a man in a higher social status. The higher she married, the less physical work she would have to do. (Greenhalgh, 13)

When a woman married, she moved into her husbands family "compound." There lived her and her husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and any brothers of her husband and their wives. In this living situation, the mother-in-law held all the domestic power. By a having their feet bound prevented women from becoming disruptive. Women were continuously under the watchful eye of the mother-in-law and were unable to wander and earn any money of their own. Women in this situation also had little say in the decisions that affected their lives because of the control her in-laws held. (Greenhalgh, 14)

At some point, the family compound would be split up into separate households. This was not a good thing for the mother-in-law because she lost the power she held over her daughter-in-laws. This change of living situations was beneficial to the daughter-in-law because she now had control over her own life. (Greenhalgh, 15)

Footbinding became a self-repetitive cycle. "The family system demanded footbound wives to do its domestic and reproductive tasks: and footbound wives, physically constrained from doing otherwise, reinforced the power structures which strengthened the system." (Greenhalgh, 15)

=End of Footbinding=

[[File:8_footbinding.jpg|200px|thumb|left|typical bound foot. The toes have been wrapped so completely under the foot that they are visible on the opposite side]]
[[File:11_footbinding.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Chinese woman with bound feet compared with another woman's unbound feet (she turned one foot so that the side view could be seen]]

Footbinding wasn't always legal in China. The Qing Dynasty outlawed footbinding, but the law was mostly ignored and women continued to bind their daughter's feet. The Qing Dynasty was not run by Han Chinese, and therefore they did not practice the footbinding custom.

Reform for footbinding did not come from within China, it came from the intrusion of Western imperialism in the 19th century. Western missionaries and urban,upperclass Chinse began to put together natural-foot societies. These societies sent out pamphlets with propaganda such as:

"The present is no time of peace. Foreign women have natural feet; they are daring, and can defend themselves; whilst Chinese women have bound feet, and are too weak even to bear the weight of their own clothes..." (Greenhalgh, 15)

During this time of reform, there also was an increase in industrialization. Industrialization created jobs for women outside of the home. With new work outside of the family compound, women with bound feet not as able to get out. This led to women with unbound feet able to get of the house. The custom of binding feet slowed modernization because it kept such a large number of possible workers at home. (Greenhalgh, 15)

The increase of Westerners also influenced the downfall of footbinding. Footbinding was ridiculed by Westerners, and in order to prevent national humiliation, the custom of footbinding needed to be given up. New leaders in 1912 after overthrowing Manchu dynasty passed number of strict anti-footbinding decrees. (Greenhalgh, 16)

'''1929 survey''':

2.3% girls born before 1900 had unbound feet

95.1% girls born after 1910 had unbound feet

This survey shows the dramatic decrease in custom of footbinding. Women who already had bound feet were unlikely to follow laws and unbind their feet. This was primarily because of the pain and slim chance foot would regain natural shape. (Greenhalgh, 16)

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

= Classroom Presentation =
[[Media:Footbinding.pptx]] by Mallory Wilsted

= Works Cited =
Ebrey, Patrica Buckley. "The Cambridge Illustrated History of China". New York, Cambridge University Press, 2010, 2d ed.

Greenhalgh, Susan. “Bound Feet, Hobbled Lives: Women in Old China.” ''Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies''. Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring, 1977), pp. 7- 21

Footbinding

2013-04-16T04:15:37Z

Mallory W: /* How to Bind Feet */

[[File:1_footbinding.jpg|250px|thumb|left|Photo of Chinese woman with bound feet]]
There is some disagreement about when footbinding began in China. It has been suggested that it began as early as the Shang Dynasty and as late as the Song Dynasty.(Ebrey, 160) At the very least though, the custom lasted for well over a thousand years, until well into the 20th Century. These pictures are all of women from the late 19th or early 20th Century

[[File:5_footbinding.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Size comparison: regular size woman's shoe (from WWI era), woman's bound feet & a teacup. Photo by by otisarchives3.Click [http://www.flickr.com/photos/22719239@N04/2283064557/sizes/l/in/photostream/ here] for original source.]]

These pictures show only the result of footbinding, not the terrible and excruciatingly painful process by which these result were obtained.

=Origins=
Even though there are some disagreements about when exactly footbinding began, there is a general time frame for when it likely started. Footbinding possibly originated during the fifty years between the Tang and Song dynasties, roughly 907-959 A.D. During this time it wasfashionable for women to walk slowly and sway. Also,both men and women compressed their feet moderately. Between 750-1100 A.D. footbinding became a female custom and spread to all parts of society. The practice originated in the north, and followed the migration patterns and moved its way south. Footbindng did not become as prevalent in the South as it did in the North, primarily due to the fact that women were a larger part of the labor force in the South(Greenhalgh 8)

During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.), footbinding received popular and official sanction. By the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912 A.D.) the custom of footbinding was so prevalent that when the first Manchu Emperor in 1644 attempted to ban the custom, but failed. In the nineteenth century, footbinding reached its highest prevelance. This is an interesting fact considering the ruling dynasty did not practice footbinding. (Greenhalgh 8)

=== Story of First Footbinding ===

In the Southern Tang Dynasty (961-975 A.D.), the court of the Emperor Li Yu had a large number of courtesans and dancers. Among these dancers, Li Yu had a favorite. Her name was Yao-niang. Li Yu built her a six foot high golden lotus. This golden lotus was covered with jewels, pearls, and golden threads. Li Yu then ordered Yao-niang to bind her feet with strips of white silk, making them small, graceful, and in the shape of the crescent moon. Yao-niang was then supposed to dance on this golden lotus. (Greenhalgh 8-9)

After this, the term "golden lotus" became a euphemism for bound feet, because of the resemblance between a bound foot and a lotus. The bound foot became the aesthetic ideal and fashionable. (Greenhalgh, 9)

Even though it is not necessarily known who bound the first feet, The story of the first bound foot shows what the ideal was for the custom of footbinding.

=Who Had Their Feet Bound?=
Footbinding could be seen in girls and women throughout the different social classes, however it was seen less in lower social classes becuase of the need for women being able to work. Footbinding usually began around age five or six. However, in upper class footbinding sometimes started at age three, and in lower classes it did not happen until the age twelve or thirteen. This process was always done by the mother or grandmother. Mothers did this to their daughter in hopes of finding a husband for their daughters and to keep or raise the family's social standing.(Greenhalgh, 9)

Even though footbinding custom and was done in lower class families, it was not always economically possible to bind the feet of all the daughters. In the lower class, the daughters feet were only bound if there was hope for marrying them into higher status families. In this situation, girls feet were bound late compared to girls in higher-class families. The bindings on these girls were not bound nearly as tight which allowed the girls to do household chores, work in fields, or find indoor employment. (Greenhalgh, 8)

For the families that could not afford to bind their daughters feet, the feet were left normal. These girls then worked in the fields or in shops of carpenters or blacksmiths. (Greenhalgh, 8)

=How to Bind Feet=
[[File:6_Shanghai_1900_by_Okinawa_Soba.jpg|250px|thumb|left|Chinese woman from Shanghai 1900 shows her bound feet]]
[[File:7_shanghai.jpg|250px|thumb|right|top view of the feet of the woman from Shanghai unwrapped and shown next to the foot of a typical woman with unbound feet.]]
[[File:9_footbinding.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Now for a look at the bottom of her feet]]
[[File:10_footbinding.jpg|250px|thumb|right|close up of typical bound feet.]]
[[File:footbinding_schema.JPG|600px|thumb|right|Comparison of a normal foot and a foot that has gone through the footbinding process. Image by Marco L.]]

When a young girl was about 6 years old her feet would be bound for the first time. First, her feet would usually be soaked in a mixture of liquids (the ingredients varied- anything from plain water to animal blood) believed to soften the bones for the work ahead. Then, her toenails were cut and her four smaller toes were folded under the main part of the foot and tightly wrapped. (Often the bones in these toes were broken at this time. If they were not broken now, they would be later.) Then the entire foot was tightly wrapped around both the foot and the ankle, to draw the ball of the foot as close as possible to the heel. As the wrappings dried, the foot would be bound even tighter pulling the ball of the foot even closer to the heel and deforming (sometimes even breaking) the arch of the foot. The young girl would be required to walk on her bound feet, breaking the smaller toes, if not already broken. Eventually, if the procedure did not cost her her life, her feet would heal in the new position. The pain would never entirely go away. Frequently her feet would became infected and sometimes some of the flesh would die and need to be removed. This was considered a good thing because it allowed the foot to be bound even more tightly. All of this so that a mother could give her daughter the smallest possible feet, ideally 3 inches long (Ebrey,160)

Here is an account of the footbinding process from someone who endured the process:

"Born into an old-fashioned family at P'ing-hsi,

I was inflicted with the pain of footbinding when I

was was seven years old . . . I wept and hid in a neighbor's

home, but mother found me, scolded me, and

dragged me home. She shut the bedroom door, boiled

water, and from a box withdrew binding, shoes, knife,

needle, and thread . . . She washed and placed alum

on my feet and cut the toenails. She then bent my

toes toward the plantar with a binding cloth ten

feet long and two inches wide, doing the right foot

first and then the left. She finished binding and

ordered me to walk, but when I did the pain proved

unbearable.

That night, mother wouldn't let me remove the

shoes. My feet felt on fire and I couldn't sleep;

mother struck me for crying . . . The feet were

washed and rebound after three or four days, with

alum added. After several months, all toes but the

big one were pressed against the inner surface . . .

Mother would remove the bindings and wipe the blood

and pus which dripped from my feet. She told me

that only with removal of the flesh could my feet

become slender. If I mistakenly punctured a sore,

the blood gushed like a stream.

Every two weeks, I changed to new shoes. Each

new pair was one- to two-tenths of an inch smaller

than the previous one . . . After changing more than

ten pairs of shoes, my feet were reduced to a little

over four inches . . . Four of the toes were curled

in like so many dead caterpillars; no outsider

would ever have believed that they belonged to a

human being. It took two years to achieve the

three-inch model . . ." (Greenhalgh, 9)

By reading an account of the process from someone who actually endured it, makes it a little easier to understand what women went through. About one out of ten girls died from the process of footbinding, or the effects it had after it was done. A higher percentage of the deaths from footbinding would have occured in the countryside. This was due to the fact that in the countryside there was not as much knowledge on how to fight infections.(Greenhalgh, 9-10)

=Care of Bound=
[[File:12_footbinding.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Not just in China. This woman is from Toronto. Click [http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasfisherlibrary/6235264222/sizes/l/in/photostream/ here] for original source.]]
[[File:footbinding_shoes.JPG|250px|thumb|right|Photo of the type of shoes women with bound feet wore. Photo by Queensland Museum]]
The pain from footbinding never fully went away. Only women who had mothers who were skilled at the process had the pain subside after a year or two. At this time, it became the woman's job to care for her bound feet. Caring for bound feet was always done in private, because the possibility of someone seeing the unbound foot was considered taboo.(Greenhalgh, 10)

Once a week, women would soak their bandaged feet in hot water. They would then remove the bandages, and any dead skin or calluses would be rubbed and cut off. Women also had to perfume their feet in order to hide the smell. The feet were then kneaded into the desired shape, dusted with alum, and rebound quickly in order to preserve the shape. (Greenhalgh, 10)

Embroidered shoes with one or two inch wooden heels were worn. The shoes were shaped in order to help women walk with their now mishaped feet. The heels helped balance and support the body. Women usually had more than one pair of shoes, if they could afford them, including a pair for special occasions. (Greenhalgh, 10)

The ankles of women with bound feet were affected the footbinding process. Ankles were swollen and deformed, and in order to hide this women wore leggings which were fastened above the calf and hung down far enough just to show the tiny foot in its embroidered shoes.(Greenhalgh, 10)
[[File:14_shoes_for_manchu_unbnd_ft_women-_walk_like_bound.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Example of shoes, for women whose feet were not bound, designed to help them walk like women with bound feet.]]
Walking on these poor feet, was an exercise in pain. After all, the women's toes were now tucked into the sole of her feet. To walk, she either had to walk on her toes, or, learn to walk on just her heels (It is not easy to do.) Walking only on your heals gave these women a certain characteristic walk. Women whose feet were not bound, wanted to be able to walk the same way. So, they created special shoes to help them.

=Role in Marriage=
[[File:4_footbinding.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Mother & daughter- compare the size of their feet]]
One of the main roles footbinding played was increasing the marriagablilty of the daughters in a household. Marriage was a way to assure continuity of the patrilineal line. When a family had a daughter, their concern was to raise her as cheaply as possible. This was due to the fact that girls left the family and could not help the family economically. This meant the main task for the family was to ensure that their daughters would marry into a good family. In order to make a daughter marriageable they had to be brought up in strict accordance of correct female behavior. The correct way for women behave was outlined in the Three Obediences and the Four Virtues.

'''Three Obediences''':

''Before a woman is married she must obey her father''

''When married, she must live for her husband''

''And as a widow she must serve her sons''

The three obediences were in ''Precepts for Women'' in the 2nd Century A.D. by Nu Chieh.(Greenhalgh, 12)

'''Four Virtues''':

''Woman’s Behavior: chaste and yielding, calm and upright''

''Woman’s Speech: not talkative, yet agreeable''

''Woman’s Carriage and Appearance: restrained and exquisite''

''Woman’s Occupation: handiwork, embroidery.'' (Greenhalgh, 12)

Women had to follow the standard of how they were supposed to live because there was no socially acceptable alternative for getting married, other than becoming a concubine. The goal of parents was to rear daughter to make best marriage match possible. The best marriage was usually to someone of a higher social status. The advantage of marrying a daughter into a family of higher status was political. By marrying thier daughter to a higher social status,the family was either able to get someone from the family into a political office, or they would now have a member of the daughters family in a political office. By knowing someone in a political, members of the brides family would be able to get immunity from political exploitation. (Greenhalgh, 13)

There were also a few economic benefits of marrying a daughter to a family of higher status. The primary economic gaim was a gift of money the grooms family sent to the brides family. The brides famiily also could possibly get loans or have business deals with the grooms family. Even with the possible financial gains, the political gains were better for the family. (Greenhalgh, 13)

Along with the family benefits, there were benefits for the bride if she married a man in a higher social status. The higher she married, the less physical work she would have to do. (Greenhalgh, 13)

When a woman married, she moved into her husbands family "compound." There lived her and her husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and any brothers of her husband and their wives. In this living situation, the mother-in-law held all the domestic power. By a having their feet bound prevented women from becoming disruptive. Women were continuously under the watchful eye of the mother-in-law and were unable to wander and earn any money of their own. Women in this situation also had little say in the decisions that affected their lives because of the control her in-laws held. (Greenhalgh, 14)

At some point, the family compound would be split up into separate households. This was not a good thing for the mother-in-law because she lost the power she held over her daughter-in-laws. This change of living situations was beneficial to the daughter-in-law because she now had control over her own life. (Greenhalgh, 15)

Footbinding became a self-repetitive cycle. "The family system demanded footbound wives to do its domestic and reproductive tasks: and footbound wives, physically constrained from doing otherwise, reinforced the power structures which strengthened the system." (Greenhalgh, 15)

=End of Footbinding=

[[File:8_footbinding.jpg|200px|thumb|left|typical bound foot. The toes have been wrapped so completely under the foot that they are visible on the opposite side]]
[[File:11_footbinding.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Chinese woman with bound feet compared with another woman's unbound feet (she turned one foot so that the side view could be seen]]

Footbinding wasn't always legal in China. The Qing Dynasty outlawed footbinding, but the law was mostly ignored and women continued to bind their daughter's feet. The Qing Dynasty was not run by Han Chinese, and therefore they did not practice the footbinding custom.

Reform for footbinding did not come from within China, it came from the intrusion of Western imperialism in the 19th century. Western missionaries and urban,upperclass Chinse began to put together natural-foot societies. These societies sent out pamphlets with propaganda such as:

"The present is no time of peace. Foreign women have natural feet; they are daring, and can defend themselves; whilst Chinese women have bound feet, and are too weak even to bear the weight of their own clothes..." (Greenhalgh, 15)

During this time of reform, there also was an increase in industrialization. Industrialization created jobs for women outside of the home. With new work outside of the family compound, women with bound feet not as able to get out. This led to women with unbound feet able to get of the house. The custom of binding feet slowed modernization because it kept such a large number of possible workers at home. (Greenhalgh, 15)

The increase of Westerners also influenced the downfall of footbinding. Footbinding was ridiculed by Westerners, and in order to prevent national humiliation, the custom of footbinding needed to be given up. New leaders in 1912 after overthrowing Manchu dynasty passed number of strict anti-footbinding decrees. (Greenhalgh, 16)

'''1929 survey''':

2.3% girls born before 1900 had unbound feet

95.1% girls born after 1910 had unbound feet

This survey shows the dramatic decrease in custom of footbinding. Women who already had bound feet were unlikely to follow laws and unbind their feet. This was primarily because of the pain and slim chance foot would regain natural shape. (Greenhalgh, 16)

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

= Classroom Presentation =
[[Media:Footbinding.pptx]] by Mallory Wilsted

= Works Cited =
Ebrey, Patrica Buckley. "The Cambridge Illustrated History of China". New York, Cambridge University Press, 2010, 2d ed.

Greenhalgh, Susan. “Bound Feet, Hobbled Lives: Women in Old China.” ''Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies''. Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring, 1977), pp. 7- 21

Footbinding

2013-04-16T04:14:18Z

Mallory W: /* Care of Bound */

[[File:1_footbinding.jpg|250px|thumb|left|Photo of Chinese woman with bound feet]]
There is some disagreement about when footbinding began in China. It has been suggested that it began as early as the Shang Dynasty and as late as the Song Dynasty.(Ebrey, 160) At the very least though, the custom lasted for well over a thousand years, until well into the 20th Century. These pictures are all of women from the late 19th or early 20th Century

[[File:5_footbinding.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Size comparison: regular size woman's shoe (from WWI era), woman's bound feet & a teacup. Photo by by otisarchives3.Click [http://www.flickr.com/photos/22719239@N04/2283064557/sizes/l/in/photostream/ here] for original source.]]

These pictures show only the result of footbinding, not the terrible and excruciatingly painful process by which these result were obtained.

=Origins=
Even though there are some disagreements about when exactly footbinding began, there is a general time frame for when it likely started. Footbinding possibly originated during the fifty years between the Tang and Song dynasties, roughly 907-959 A.D. During this time it wasfashionable for women to walk slowly and sway. Also,both men and women compressed their feet moderately. Between 750-1100 A.D. footbinding became a female custom and spread to all parts of society. The practice originated in the north, and followed the migration patterns and moved its way south. Footbindng did not become as prevalent in the South as it did in the North, primarily due to the fact that women were a larger part of the labor force in the South(Greenhalgh 8)

During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.), footbinding received popular and official sanction. By the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912 A.D.) the custom of footbinding was so prevalent that when the first Manchu Emperor in 1644 attempted to ban the custom, but failed. In the nineteenth century, footbinding reached its highest prevelance. This is an interesting fact considering the ruling dynasty did not practice footbinding. (Greenhalgh 8)

=== Story of First Footbinding ===

In the Southern Tang Dynasty (961-975 A.D.), the court of the Emperor Li Yu had a large number of courtesans and dancers. Among these dancers, Li Yu had a favorite. Her name was Yao-niang. Li Yu built her a six foot high golden lotus. This golden lotus was covered with jewels, pearls, and golden threads. Li Yu then ordered Yao-niang to bind her feet with strips of white silk, making them small, graceful, and in the shape of the crescent moon. Yao-niang was then supposed to dance on this golden lotus. (Greenhalgh 8-9)

After this, the term "golden lotus" became a euphemism for bound feet, because of the resemblance between a bound foot and a lotus. The bound foot became the aesthetic ideal and fashionable. (Greenhalgh, 9)

Even though it is not necessarily known who bound the first feet, The story of the first bound foot shows what the ideal was for the custom of footbinding.

=Who Had Their Feet Bound?=
Footbinding could be seen in girls and women throughout the different social classes, however it was seen less in lower social classes becuase of the need for women being able to work. Footbinding usually began around age five or six. However, in upper class footbinding sometimes started at age three, and in lower classes it did not happen until the age twelve or thirteen. This process was always done by the mother or grandmother. Mothers did this to their daughter in hopes of finding a husband for their daughters and to keep or raise the family's social standing.(Greenhalgh, 9)

Even though footbinding custom and was done in lower class families, it was not always economically possible to bind the feet of all the daughters. In the lower class, the daughters feet were only bound if there was hope for marrying them into higher status families. In this situation, girls feet were bound late compared to girls in higher-class families. The bindings on these girls were not bound nearly as tight which allowed the girls to do household chores, work in fields, or find indoor employment. (Greenhalgh, 8)

For the families that could not afford to bind their daughters feet, the feet were left normal. These girls then worked in the fields or in shops of carpenters or blacksmiths. (Greenhalgh, 8)

=How to Bind Feet=
[[File:6_Shanghai_1900_by_Okinawa_Soba.jpg|250px|thumb|left|Chinese woman from Shanghai 1900 shows her bound feet]]
[[File:7_shanghai.jpg|250px|thumb|right|top view of the feet of the woman from Shanghai unwrapped and shown next to the foot of a typical woman with unbound feet.]]
[[File:9_footbinding.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Now for a look at the bottom of her feet]]
[[File:10_footbinding.jpg|250px|thumb|right|close up of typical bound feet.]]
[[File:footbinding_schema.JPG|700px|thumb|right|Comparison of a normal foot and a foot that has gone through the footbinding process. Image by Marco L.]]

When a young girl was about 6 years old her feet would be bound for the first time. First, her feet would usually be soaked in a mixture of liquids (the ingredients varied- anything from plain water to animal blood) believed to soften the bones for the work ahead. Then, her toenails were cut and her four smaller toes were folded under the main part of the foot and tightly wrapped. (Often the bones in these toes were broken at this time. If they were not broken now, they would be later.) Then the entire foot was tightly wrapped around both the foot and the ankle, to draw the ball of the foot as close as possible to the heel. As the wrappings dried, the foot would be bound even tighter pulling the ball of the foot even closer to the heel and deforming (sometimes even breaking) the arch of the foot. The young girl would be required to walk on her bound feet, breaking the smaller toes, if not already broken. Eventually, if the procedure did not cost her her life, her feet would heal in the new position. The pain would never entirely go away. Frequently her feet would became infected and sometimes some of the flesh would die and need to be removed. This was considered a good thing because it allowed the foot to be bound even more tightly. All of this so that a mother could give her daughter the smallest possible feet, ideally 3 inches long (Ebrey,160)

Here is an account of the footbinding process from someone who endured the process:

"Born into an old-fashioned family at P'ing-hsi,

I was inflicted with the pain of footbinding when I

was was seven years old . . . I wept and hid in a neighbor's

home, but mother found me, scolded me, and

dragged me home. She shut the bedroom door, boiled

water, and from a box withdrew binding, shoes, knife,

needle, and thread . . . She washed and placed alum

on my feet and cut the toenails. She then bent my

toes toward the plantar with a binding cloth ten

feet long and two inches wide, doing the right foot

first and then the left. She finished binding and

ordered me to walk, but when I did the pain proved

unbearable.

That night, mother wouldn't let me remove the

shoes. My feet felt on fire and I couldn't sleep;

mother struck me for crying . . . The feet were

washed and rebound after three or four days, with

alum added. After several months, all toes but the

big one were pressed against the inner surface . . .

Mother would remove the bindings and wipe the blood

and pus which dripped from my feet. She told me

that only with removal of the flesh could my feet

become slender. If I mistakenly punctured a sore,

the blood gushed like a stream.

Every two weeks, I changed to new shoes. Each

new pair was one- to two-tenths of an inch smaller

than the previous one . . . After changing more than

ten pairs of shoes, my feet were reduced to a little

over four inches . . . Four of the toes were curled

in like so many dead caterpillars; no outsider

would ever have believed that they belonged to a

human being. It took two years to achieve the

three-inch model . . ." (Greenhalgh, 9)

By reading an account of the process from someone who actually endured it, makes it a little easier to understand what women went through. About one out of ten girls died from the process of footbinding, or the effects it had after it was done. A higher percentage of the deaths from footbinding would have occured in the countryside. This was due to the fact that in the countryside there was not as much knowledge on how to fight infections.(Greenhalgh, 9-10)

=Care of Bound=
[[File:12_footbinding.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Not just in China. This woman is from Toronto. Click [http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasfisherlibrary/6235264222/sizes/l/in/photostream/ here] for original source.]]
[[File:footbinding_shoes.JPG|250px|thumb|right|Photo of the type of shoes women with bound feet wore. Photo by Queensland Museum]]
The pain from footbinding never fully went away. Only women who had mothers who were skilled at the process had the pain subside after a year or two. At this time, it became the woman's job to care for her bound feet. Caring for bound feet was always done in private, because the possibility of someone seeing the unbound foot was considered taboo.(Greenhalgh, 10)

Once a week, women would soak their bandaged feet in hot water. They would then remove the bandages, and any dead skin or calluses would be rubbed and cut off. Women also had to perfume their feet in order to hide the smell. The feet were then kneaded into the desired shape, dusted with alum, and rebound quickly in order to preserve the shape. (Greenhalgh, 10)

Embroidered shoes with one or two inch wooden heels were worn. The shoes were shaped in order to help women walk with their now mishaped feet. The heels helped balance and support the body. Women usually had more than one pair of shoes, if they could afford them, including a pair for special occasions. (Greenhalgh, 10)

The ankles of women with bound feet were affected the footbinding process. Ankles were swollen and deformed, and in order to hide this women wore leggings which were fastened above the calf and hung down far enough just to show the tiny foot in its embroidered shoes.(Greenhalgh, 10)
[[File:14_shoes_for_manchu_unbnd_ft_women-_walk_like_bound.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Example of shoes, for women whose feet were not bound, designed to help them walk like women with bound feet.]]
Walking on these poor feet, was an exercise in pain. After all, the women's toes were now tucked into the sole of her feet. To walk, she either had to walk on her toes, or, learn to walk on just her heels (It is not easy to do.) Walking only on your heals gave these women a certain characteristic walk. Women whose feet were not bound, wanted to be able to walk the same way. So, they created special shoes to help them.

=Role in Marriage=
[[File:4_footbinding.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Mother & daughter- compare the size of their feet]]
One of the main roles footbinding played was increasing the marriagablilty of the daughters in a household. Marriage was a way to assure continuity of the patrilineal line. When a family had a daughter, their concern was to raise her as cheaply as possible. This was due to the fact that girls left the family and could not help the family economically. This meant the main task for the family was to ensure that their daughters would marry into a good family. In order to make a daughter marriageable they had to be brought up in strict accordance of correct female behavior. The correct way for women behave was outlined in the Three Obediences and the Four Virtues.

'''Three Obediences''':

''Before a woman is married she must obey her father''

''When married, she must live for her husband''

''And as a widow she must serve her sons''

The three obediences were in ''Precepts for Women'' in the 2nd Century A.D. by Nu Chieh.(Greenhalgh, 12)

'''Four Virtues''':

''Woman’s Behavior: chaste and yielding, calm and upright''

''Woman’s Speech: not talkative, yet agreeable''

''Woman’s Carriage and Appearance: restrained and exquisite''

''Woman’s Occupation: handiwork, embroidery.'' (Greenhalgh, 12)

Women had to follow the standard of how they were supposed to live because there was no socially acceptable alternative for getting married, other than becoming a concubine. The goal of parents was to rear daughter to make best marriage match possible. The best marriage was usually to someone of a higher social status. The advantage of marrying a daughter into a family of higher status was political. By marrying thier daughter to a higher social status,the family was either able to get someone from the family into a political office, or they would now have a member of the daughters family in a political office. By knowing someone in a political, members of the brides family would be able to get immunity from political exploitation. (Greenhalgh, 13)

There were also a few economic benefits of marrying a daughter to a family of higher status. The primary economic gaim was a gift of money the grooms family sent to the brides family. The brides famiily also could possibly get loans or have business deals with the grooms family. Even with the possible financial gains, the political gains were better for the family. (Greenhalgh, 13)

Along with the family benefits, there were benefits for the bride if she married a man in a higher social status. The higher she married, the less physical work she would have to do. (Greenhalgh, 13)

When a woman married, she moved into her husbands family "compound." There lived her and her husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and any brothers of her husband and their wives. In this living situation, the mother-in-law held all the domestic power. By a having their feet bound prevented women from becoming disruptive. Women were continuously under the watchful eye of the mother-in-law and were unable to wander and earn any money of their own. Women in this situation also had little say in the decisions that affected their lives because of the control her in-laws held. (Greenhalgh, 14)

At some point, the family compound would be split up into separate households. This was not a good thing for the mother-in-law because she lost the power she held over her daughter-in-laws. This change of living situations was beneficial to the daughter-in-law because she now had control over her own life. (Greenhalgh, 15)

Footbinding became a self-repetitive cycle. "The family system demanded footbound wives to do its domestic and reproductive tasks: and footbound wives, physically constrained from doing otherwise, reinforced the power structures which strengthened the system." (Greenhalgh, 15)

=End of Footbinding=

[[File:8_footbinding.jpg|200px|thumb|left|typical bound foot. The toes have been wrapped so completely under the foot that they are visible on the opposite side]]
[[File:11_footbinding.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Chinese woman with bound feet compared with another woman's unbound feet (she turned one foot so that the side view could be seen]]

Footbinding wasn't always legal in China. The Qing Dynasty outlawed footbinding, but the law was mostly ignored and women continued to bind their daughter's feet. The Qing Dynasty was not run by Han Chinese, and therefore they did not practice the footbinding custom.

Reform for footbinding did not come from within China, it came from the intrusion of Western imperialism in the 19th century. Western missionaries and urban,upperclass Chinse began to put together natural-foot societies. These societies sent out pamphlets with propaganda such as:

"The present is no time of peace. Foreign women have natural feet; they are daring, and can defend themselves; whilst Chinese women have bound feet, and are too weak even to bear the weight of their own clothes..." (Greenhalgh, 15)

During this time of reform, there also was an increase in industrialization. Industrialization created jobs for women outside of the home. With new work outside of the family compound, women with bound feet not as able to get out. This led to women with unbound feet able to get of the house. The custom of binding feet slowed modernization because it kept such a large number of possible workers at home. (Greenhalgh, 15)

The increase of Westerners also influenced the downfall of footbinding. Footbinding was ridiculed by Westerners, and in order to prevent national humiliation, the custom of footbinding needed to be given up. New leaders in 1912 after overthrowing Manchu dynasty passed number of strict anti-footbinding decrees. (Greenhalgh, 16)

'''1929 survey''':

2.3% girls born before 1900 had unbound feet

95.1% girls born after 1910 had unbound feet

This survey shows the dramatic decrease in custom of footbinding. Women who already had bound feet were unlikely to follow laws and unbind their feet. This was primarily because of the pain and slim chance foot would regain natural shape. (Greenhalgh, 16)

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

= Classroom Presentation =
[[Media:Footbinding.pptx]] by Mallory Wilsted

= Works Cited =
Ebrey, Patrica Buckley. "The Cambridge Illustrated History of China". New York, Cambridge University Press, 2010, 2d ed.

Greenhalgh, Susan. “Bound Feet, Hobbled Lives: Women in Old China.” ''Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies''. Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring, 1977), pp. 7- 21

Mallory W:

Traditional Chinese History

2013-04-11T23:10:44Z

Empresses

2013-03-01T05:36:16Z

Mallory W:

Empresses usually acquired their power after the death of their Emperor husband. After an emperor died, empresses would get the title of Dowager Empress. However, this title was not automatically given and some got this title even though they were not the Empress Consort while thier husband was emperor. As a Dowager Empress, these women would sometimes act as regent for new emperors who were either too young or incapable of ruling on their own. By keeping child emperors on the throne and replacing them once they were close enough to an age where they would be mature enough to rule on their own, some empresses were able to hold onto power for and extended period of time. By doing so, they were able to benefit their own families.

=Royal Women=

In an imperial household, there were more women than just the empress. There were also palace women, and these women usually consisted of servants, musicians, entertainers, consorts, and concubines. The number of palace women could be in the hundreds. They often lived in an isolated household where the only males that could interact with them were eunuchs, except for the emperor and any imperial children. Even though women from the families of high-ranking ministers were preferred to be chosen as the legal wife and empress of an emperor, any women who caught the attention of the emperor could be made his wife. This meant women from lower ranking families could become empress. With this gain of power and being favored by the emperor meant these royal women could help the men in their own families acquire high ranks and honors. (Oxford)

=Concubines=

Because a number of Empresses started as concubines, it is important to realize what this meant in Chinese society. The Chinese term for concubine is ''qie''. This term refers to a woman who lived with a married man and his legal wife. The man of the household had sole access to the concubine and any children she had with him were legitimate. The position of concubine was also legally defined. When trying to determine what type of rank a concubine had, they could be placed between paid servants and the legal wife. Concubines were able move up in rank if they bore a son for the man, especially if his wife has not done so. Concubines often came from families of lower social standings. Having concubines often added to the social standings of the head of the household. Some emperors had hundreds of concubines, and some of these concubines were able to gain power in the government, usually after gaining power in the household. (Oxford)

Even though most ordinary families did not have concubines, the system created a market for women. Attractive daughters could be sold into concubinage when the family was desperate. The head of the household knew this was a lucrative option. (Oxford)

= Lü of Han (d. 180 B.C.) =
[[File:Emperor_Gaozu_of_Han_Dynasty.JPG|250px|thumb|left|Portrait of Emperor Kao-ti, founder of the Han Dynasty and husband of Empress Lü.]]
I was the wife of Emperor Kao-Ti. Some of his other known names were his temple name Gaozu and his personal name Liu Bang. He was the founding Emperor of the Han Dynasty. He died in 195 B.C. My son Hui-Ti succeeded him as emperor,but he died in 188 B.C. at the age of 23. Hui-Ti had no children with his official empress, so the child of one of his consorts was made emperor. His name was Shao-ti Kung. After 3 years, he was replaced by another child who was still an infant, named Shao-ti Hung. Because of the child emperors, I was able to act as regent and given the title "Grand Empress Dowager." As regent, I was able to issue edicts under my own authority. Even though I was regent and was in control, I never claimed the title of "Empress" for myself. Meaning I only had the title Empress because of my deceased husband.

My husband Kao-Ti swore an oath with his followers, but I chose to ignore it. Instead I nominated 4 of my family members as kings,I elevated 6 others to marquis, and I posted other family members as generals. By appointing family members, I was able to command forces that were encamped in Ch’ang-an, the capital of the Han dynasty. Even with appointing my family members in high ranking positions, I was unable to keep control over the entire empire.

I died in 180 B.C. Before I died, I had appointed family members as Chancellor of State and General of the Army,the 2 most senior posts. My family wanted to eliminate the imperial house of Liu, which was my husbands family, and take over. However, 3 descendants of Kao-ti still had control of kingdoms, Ch’u, Huai-nan, and Tai. These family members acquired support from other family members. Kao-ti's grandson, the king of Ch'i took control and marched into Ch'ang-an, and eliminated my family. If I wanted to make sure my family succeeded in starting their own dynasty, I should have made sure the entire house of Liu had been killed.

(''Cambridge History, vol 1'' 1986:132-133, 135-136)

= Wu Zetian of Tang (627-705) =
[[File:Empress_Wu_Zetian_from_Tang_Dynasty.JPG|250px|thumb|right|Portrait of Empress Wu Zetian of Tang Dynasty.]]
In 640 I joined the household of Emperor Toizong. After his death in 649, I was sent with rest of the women to a Buddhist convent. However, I was soon summoned to join the household of the new emperor, Gaozong. By 656, I had full power of the womens quarters and the Empress and the favorite concubine of Gaozong had been killed. (Oxford)

Gaozong suffered from a stroke in 660 C.E. and I took control of the Empire. After this I decided to become active in decision making and I would sit behind a screen behind his throne. Many people thought one of my adult sons should be in charge when my husband was sick, but unfortunatley one of them died and the other was accused of plotting against Gaozong and committed suicide. Gaozong died in 683 C.E. (Oxford)

The heir of Gaozong, Zhongzong, wanted to turn the empire over to his father-in-law. In order to protect the Tang Dynasty, I stepped in. I exiled Zhongzong and another son of Gaozong, Ruizong was made emperor. He was not given any active role in the government. With this, there was rebellion from other family members in the imperial Tang family, but those were quickly put to an end. (Oxford)

I idealized the early Zhou dynasty, and because of that ceremonies and the names of offices were switched to be more like the Zhou. In 688 a stone was found that had the inscription, "A Sage Mother shall come to rule mankind; her rule shall bring eternal prosperity." In 690, I assumed full imperial power under my own name and started my own dynasty, naming it Zhou.

By 690, the ruling virtue was entangled with Buddhist prophecies. One of these prophecies was of a bodhisattva called Maitreya, "who would come to save the cosmos and its people from apocalyptic disaster." My lover, Xue Huaiyi, had a new commentary on a Buddhist text entitled the ''Great Cloud''. This text prophesied that Maitreya would come back in female form. Xue argued that that I was Maitreya incarnate. Xue was the architect of the Bright Hall, and with the proclamation of Maitreya, which I added to my title in 694, a new Heavenly Hall was built. (Oxford)

In 695 the halls were burned down, Xue was killed, and I gave up my title of Maitreya. During this time there was religious upheavel. I brought Zhongzong out of exile and made him my successor. I favored two brothers, with the name Zhang. After I overturned the capital sentence of one of the brothers in early 705, Zhongzong, the high officials and the prison guards killed the brothers. They also forced my abdication. By the end of the year I was dead. In 716 I was given the title Zetian. (Oxford)

= Cixi of Qing (Tzu Hsi) 1835-1908 =
[[File:Empress_Cixi_of_Qing_Dynasty.JPG|250px|thumb|left|Portrait of Empress Cixi of Qing Dynasty.]]
[[File:Emperor_Guangxu.JPG|250px|thumb|right|Portrait of Emperor Guangxu of Qing Dynasty.]]
Like many other empresses, I started my political career as a concubine. I was the concubine for Xianfeng emperor. I had his only son, which helped me move up higher in the ranks of the concubines. The emperor died in 1861, and my five year old son was named the Tongzhi emperor. With the help of Xianfeng's brother, Prince Gong, I staged a coup d’état and overthrew the five-men regecy Xianfeng had set up. I ruled as co-regent with the Empress Dowager Ci'an. She was the first wife to Xianfeng, and luckily for me she never exercised much power. (Oxford)

When my son died in 1875, my three year old nephew, Guangxu, was made Emperor. When Guangxu was mature enough to rule on his own in 1898, I moved to the summer palace, but was kept informed about all that was going on. During this time there was a movement for reform and this was something I did not approve of becuase it affected my power and the power of others. (Oxford)

Guangxu was interested in the ideas of reform. He called on Kang Youwei to help him with reform. Kang Youwei was a leader of a group urging for modernizing and presented Confucius as an “institutional innovator and proponent of change.” With the help of Kang Youwei, passed a number of edicts for reform. Some of these edicts dealt with education, government, and commerce. After three months, I had enough of the reform. I did not want the reform to interfere with my power. I locked Guangxu in prison for an 'illness' and had as many of the reformers as I could killed. Unfortunately, Kang Youwei escaped to Japan. (Ebrey 2010: )

I did implement a few reforms after the Boxer Rebellion, but it was not enough to stop the Revolution in 1911. I died on November 15,1908, the day after my nephew died. The last act was installing Puyi as the Emperor. It turns out Puyi was the last Emperor of the Qing Dynasy. (Oxford)

= List of Dowager Empresses =
'''Han Dynasty'''

Empress Dowager Lü

Empress Dowager Dou

Empress Dowager Wang

Empress Dowager Deng

Empress Dowager Liang

Empress Dowager He

'''Northern Dynasties'''

Empress Dowager Feng

Empress Dowager Hu

Empress Dowager Wenming

'''Tang Dynasty'''

820–848 : Empress Dowager Guo (Muzong)

824–845 : Empress Dowager Wang (Jingzong)

826–847 : Empress Dowager Xiao (Wenzong)

846–865 : Empress Dowager Zheng (Xuānzong)

'''Qing Dynasty'''

1643–1649 : Empress Xiaoduanwen

1646–1688 : Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang

1661–1663 : Empress Xiaokangzhang

1663–1717 : Empress Xiaohuizhang

1722–1723 : Empress Xiaogongren

1735–1777 : Empress Xiaoshengxian

1820–1850 : Empress Xiaoherui

1855 : Empress Xiaojingcheng

1861–1881 : Empress Dowager Ci'an

1861–1908 : Empress Dowager Cixi

1908–1913 : Empress Dowager Longyu

= References =
*''The Cambridge History of China, vol. 1''. New York: Cambridge University Press,1986
*Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. ''Cambridge Illustrated History of China''. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. 2nd ed.
*''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History''. Oxford University Press, Online Version, 2012.
*Images are public domain because the copyrights have expired

= Classroom Presentation =
[[Media:Empresses_of_China.pptx]]