Splendid slippers
Another thing he brought home was a pair of embroidered Chinese slippers which fascinated me. They were tiny and I could not believe that anyone other than a very small child could have worn them. My feet were far too big – I couldn’t fit even my toes into them, but yet my father insisted that they had indeed been intended for women, whose feet had been bound so that they could wear these beautiful doll-sized shoes.
In later years, I discovered more about foot-binding and learnt what a cruel tradition it was. Small feet were considered beautiful, not least because they caused the women to sway as they walked in a sensual way. It was believed that tottering along on tiny feet also made the thigh and pelvic muscles tight and so the smaller the feet, the stronger the muscles would become.
The ‘golden lily’ feet, the most prized of all, were just three inches long, sometimes less. Four–inch feet were called silver lilies and bound feet larger than that were known as ‘iron lilies’. Having such prized feet meant that a family could marry off a daughter to a wealthy man. If they could also provide a rich dowry, the social elevation of their daughter was almost assured.
It was the ambition of all poverty-stricken parents that their daughters should rise to live a life of luxury. A pretty daughter would have her toes, apart from the big toe, folded under the foot and bound. This usually took place when the little girl was five or six years old, when the bones were still soft enough to be manipulated. The binding would be undertaken by her mother and grandmother or sometimes an official foot-binder. It was an excruciatingly painful process. The child would be forced to walk on her bound feet to crush the toes. If this did not break them, stones would be bound into the bandages.
Binding was necessary to stop the bones growing. The bandages would be changed every couple of days and gradually the bindings would become tighter. Often the flesh would be lacerated with sharp objects so that it would rot away, helping to make the feet even smaller. After two years, the required size and shape would have been achieved, but the feet would continue to be bound for life and the pain was unrelenting.
Many girls died from infections caused by the procedure. It was considered that a bound-foot woman, having undergone such agony, would be obedient and uncomplaining in her marriage.
The practice of foot-binding was not completely abandoned until 1949, though it continued in some extremely remote areas until 1957. Believed to have begun in aristocratic families in the 10th century, it was gradually adopted by poorer people as a means of freeing their families from poverty.
A prospective suitor, and particularly the potential mother-in-law, would look at the slippers the girl had embroidered. The first thing to consider was the size. The smaller the slipper, the more attractive the proposition. Another consideration was the embroidery. Bound-foot girls spent many hours embroidering slippers, taking inspiration from Nature. The finest embroidery on the most beautiful material of the tiniest shoe was almost a guarantee of marriage. A plain girl with tiny feet would be a more desirable acquisition than a pretty girl with larger feet.
I don’t know what happened to the little shoes my father brought home. In a sense I’m glad they disappeared. They were so pretty but yet were a symbol of such pain and repression.
Beverley Jackson (1928-2020) was an American writer who gave lectures across the world on Chinese culture and fashion. Her book, ‘Splendid Slippers’, gives a comprehensive account of the practice and history of foot- binding and the creation of exquisitely embroidered shoes.
In my opinion this is one of the worst crimes ever perpetrated upon girls and women and I am glad it no longer happens. It's right up there with female circumcision, which does still happen and needs to be stamped out.
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly. Young girls are still being taken 'on holiday', unsuspecting, and having their lives changed forever.
DeleteGosh what a horrible process that was & how excruciating. I am so pleased this has now been baned. I would not have been married off quickly as I do not have tiny dainty feet.
ReplyDeletePerceptions of beauty change all the time, albeit slowly.
DeleteOh my, what a horrible thing to happen.
ReplyDeleteIt continued for centuries, but brutal traditions often do persist.
DeleteI remember at school learning about the brutal Chinese custom of foot binding. The slippers are beautiful but also prompt deep disquiet at what they represent.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Gail (about to slip into my robust and comfortable size 7 walking shoes - "Clodhoppers", my mother would have called them).
Walking shoes are the best footwear, along with trainers - 'good, all round support'
ReplyDeleteI guess we all knew about the feet binding, but your graphic description really tells of the cruelty of the practice. And then elsewhere in the world, more intimate torture of girls and young women with life long effects goes on and on.
ReplyDeleteOn a cheerier note, the china featured in your older post is absolutely fantastic, so soft and subtle, yet beautiful.
Oh, I'm glad you appreciated the china. It's not valuable, but of great value.
DeleteI don't think men EVER believed the following. "It was believed that tottering along on tiny feet also made the thigh and pelvic muscles tight and so the smaller the feet, the stronger the muscles would become." Rather they knew their wives would suffer excruciating pain if they walked, and thus kept total control over the wives' movements all day and night.
ReplyDeleteWhat a disgrace.
Certainly a good measure of control came into the calculation, but there was undoubtedly a sexual element to it.
DeleteIt’s hard to believe that such barbaric practices ever existed, except that it’s not hard to believe. Female circumcision thrives to this day in some communities and there are many in far right Christian circles who would exercise total domination over women’s lives given the chance. Humans are in many respects quite disagreeable.
ReplyDeleteBarbarism in many forms, some quite subtle, exists and probably always will. 'Women should know their place' and will be kept in it by whatever means possible, not always physically.
DeleteI have just read your linked post about the tea set. My father bought one just like that, but from Hong Kong when he was on National Service in Kowloon back in the 1950s. He gave it to his mother (my grandmother) and when she died it came back to my dad. When he died, my sister said that I should have it as she didn't have room for it. It was too delicate to use and was kept in a display cabinet until we moved house. I eventually gave it to a charity shop but I don't know what happened to it after that. It was lovely but oh so impractical.
ReplyDeleteTotally impractical and I rarely use it, but I do love it. It's not valuable but of great value.
DeleteThe bound feet were horrible. I just cringe to read your article, though I have know all my adult life about this atrocity. Another awful one is the tribes that elongated the young girls necks. i am grateful to be born in the here and now and have size 8 feet that I do like, as they keep me from falling over, lol.
ReplyDeleteThe tradition of the giraffe women is gradually dying out. It doesn't actually elongate the neck, but pushes down the muscles around the collar bone. Strange custom, though.
DeleteI think I was 15 when I read the book from Pearl S.Buck "East wind, west wind" (the German translation) I was fascinated of the old traditions in China before the revolution. I read everything I could find about this time ! The poor little girls what they had to suffer ! but apparently they suffered even more when they decided to open the bandages to try to get bigger feet (so it was described in the book) When I moved to Brussels there is a museum in the Japanese tower where you can see these little shoes ! I was very impressed.
ReplyDeleteLife could never be the same again for them. Atrocious!
DeleteIt was an awful, terrible custom and the suffering - those poor little girls - and knowing that it would never get any better. I find it very hard to think about. xx
ReplyDeleteThe last women must now be nearing the end of their lives. x x
ReplyDeleteI knew about foot binding, obviously, but seeing it described in such detail here brings home what a barbaric tradition this was, and how much these girls and women must have suffered. Beautiful as those tiny embroidered slippers must have been, I'd never be able to look at them and not think about all the suffering. xxx
ReplyDeleteIt takes, 'You have to suffer to be beautiful' to unacceptable depths.
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