Why did women consider their feet so important in ancient times?

The practice of binding small feet first began during the reign of Li Yu in the Southern Tang Dynasty from 969 to 975 AD. One of Li’s queens was so creative that she tied her feet into a crescent shape with silk and danced on golden lotus flowers to please the emperor. . Later, this practice spread to the people, and the custom of binding feet gradually spread to ordinary people. However, some people believe that small foot binding has already appeared as early as the Warring States Period from 770 to 476 BC, and may be traced back to the Shang Dynasty even earlier. In short, foot binding, a bad custom in feudal society, has a long history and has harmed countless Chinese women for thousands of years. It can be said that foot binding is one of the most prominent manifestations of "men are superior to women" under the patriarchal tradition. According to records, folk women begin to bind their feet at the age of four or five. By the time they reach adulthood, if their feet do not exceed three inches, they will become the highly praised "three-inch golden lotus". At the time, such small feet were considered an important aspect of "feminine beauty." Even if a woman has good looks and figure, if she has natural feet or her feet are not tied small enough, she will be ridiculed and she will not be able to get married. "Such big feet" has also become the most unpleasant word to curse and humiliate women. In fact, the "beauty" of small feet is predicated on the physical and mental destruction of women. The method of binding feet is to use artificial force to savagely dislocate or fracture the metatarsal bones of a woman's feet and press them on the soles of the feet, and then wrap them tightly layer by layer with foot-binding cloths. The feet of women who have their feet bound are difficult to walk and very painful. , more likely to cause disability and death. The folk saying "a pair of small feet brings a jar of tears" is a concentrated reflection of the suffering that women have suffered for thousands of years. Once the natural feet are tied into "three-inch golden lotus", women will definitely be very inconvenient and restricted in labor and communication. They have to be trapped at home and have to lean against the wall to stand and walk. Not only does "men dominate the house, but women "Within the Lord" is a matter of course, and "men are strong and women are weak" has also become a fact. If women have any dissatisfaction, resistance, elopement, etc., it will be even more difficult. They can only swallow their anger and let themselves be manipulated. In fact, this kind of "beauty" that goes against nature and health and is based on the destruction of women's bodies is not only an extremely distorted and perverted form of beauty, but it also reinforces the oppression and control of women in a patriarchal society. The effect is as stated in "The Daughter's Sutra": "Lest he (she) walk out of the room lightly, there will be thousands of entanglements to restrain him".

The rise of small feet is due to men's hobby, and the aesthetic distortion of men is also getting out of control due to the "three-inch golden lotus", until women's mutilated feet become an important item to arouse men's sexual excitement. According to records, since the Song Dynasty, a "drinking" game has become popular in many brothels' banquets. The prostitutes' little feet and their little shoes are highlighted from beginning to end. The prostitute's client puts the wine glass into the prostitute's little feet. Come pass, pour wine, and drink in your shoes. Until the beginning of the 20th century, some men still enjoyed participating in this "drinking" game and were excited about the opportunity to drink from the wine glasses in the prostitutes' tiny shoes. As for the rotten literati of the past dynasties, they were even more interested in discussing small feet as "knowledge". They spared no effort in pen and ink, wrote articles, and commented in detail. They took pleasure in being humble, for fear that they would not understand the aesthetics and flirtation of men playing with small feet. The role is clearly explained. For example, in the Qing Dynasty, a scholar named Fang Xuan called himself "Dr. Xianglian" and wrote an article titled "Xianlian Pinzao". He went to great lengths to classify the feet into five types, nine categories and eighteen types. , and became famous for it.

The folk proverb is very vivid: "A pair of bound feet will shed a lot of tears." The age at which foot binding begins usually starts at the age of 4 or 5, takes 3 or 4 years, and begins to take shape at the age of 7 or 8. Before binding the feet, scald the feet with hot water. While the feet are still warm, bend the four toes outside the big toe toward the soles of the feet, close to the soles of the feet, and apply alum between the toes. Over time, the feet will become bent. Being short will cause the soles of the feet to be sunken, the insteps to bulge, and the length of the feet to be shortened.

Old Mrs. Wu Yang from Liuyi Village in Yunnan recalled her foot-binding experience this way: Her mother used the "shoot through" on the loom to be placed horizontally under her ankles. bulge. Then, they tied her up and forced her to walk. Slowly, the waist of the ankle was broken by the "shoot through". As a result, she was unable to get out of bed and walk for more than a month. Although her ankle was broken, her feet were still bloated and ugly. Her mother said again: How come your man’s feet are not rotten? Her grandma also said: It’s so difficult, it’s time to take action. So, her mother, under the guidance of her grandmother, found half a porcelain bowl, smashed it into pieces, placed it on the soles, waist, and top of her feet, then wrapped it with a foot binding cloth, put on small shoes, and let her get down to the ground. . Her feet were scratched, and blood seeped out of the foot-binding cloth, turning black, fishy, ??and smelly. She often turned pale in pain, was in a daze, and lost a lot of weight.

Foot binding changes the shape of the foot through external force, seriously affecting the normal development of the foot and causing soft tissue contracture. This painful process cannot be described in words. For more than a thousand years, thousands of women in China have experienced this kind of pain since childhood, and have reluctantly endured this kind of psychological and physical torture.

Are the little feet resulting from foot binding really so beautiful? So much so that men regard it as the most important criterion when marrying a wife, while women regard it as a major transformation that they must make to their bodies in life. In fact, this is not the case. The following is a true description of small feet, which makes people very emotional. From our current aesthetic point of view, we may even feel that our ancestors are so unreasonable.

Generally speaking, when viewed from the front, a small foot looks like a fleshy lump that has been peeled off after being injured by a fire and has become deformed and discolored. There was only one raised toe, and the nails on it were vaguely distinguishable. The rest showed a hateful blurry outline. Viewed from the side, the toes and heels have been broken off, and the two parts are close together. With the support of soft flesh, they form a curve standing at both ends. The heels are bloated, the soles of the feet disappear, and the instep is bulging. The total length of the foot is less than half of its natural length, and the entire foot resembles an irregular triangle. The scariest thing is looking at the soles of the feet from the front. It was an absurd pattern that completely eliminated the original image of the human foot. Except for the deformed heel, there is no smooth foot. The four toes of different lengths turn outwards and surround the sole of the foot with the big toe as the axis. The front of the toes therefore becomes the center of the sole of the foot, completely twisted and pressed under the sole of the foot.

We all know that such small feet are very ugly as long as the aesthetics does not exceed the norm. In fact, such small feet are unhealthy and impractical. Footbinding can cause lifelong harm to the human body. For women with bound feet, the center of gravity of support moves to the outside of the feet, making movement extremely inconvenient. And they often suffer from early-onset degenerative arthritis as adults.

Whether it is pleasing to the eye or from the perspective of health and practicality, binding women’s feet should not be accepted. However, such cruel behavior has been prevalent in China’s history for more than a thousand years. As for us having to admit that it is an influential culture in ancient China, this unhealthy visual aesthetic orientation of the ancients is like a complex mystery (of course, this is definitely not just an aesthetic problem), and the mystery of this There are so many things behind it that deserve our deep thought and reflection.

Many people believe that the custom of binding women’s feet is a product of feudal society and patriarchal society. Obviously, there are many intrinsic connections between them, but it is doubtful to say that small-foot culture is necessarily equivalent to feudal society and patriarchal society. In the West, we also experienced feudal society. The status of women was once very low. Their women gained recognition from men by tying their waists and wearing high heels. I have never heard of historical rumors of forcing women to bind their feet. In any case, this is better than A civilization that comes with bound feet.

The origin of women’s bound feet is said to be this: Empress Li of the Southern Tang Dynasty (AD 937-978) liked the condition of her concubine Ruiniang’s small feet, so she had her feet bound to make a crescent shape. Become the most favored woman in the palace. So foot binding became popular in the palace. Due to the emperor's example, small feet became fashionable, and then became popular among officials and among the people.

This has not been confirmed, but one thing is certain. Women in the Tang Dynasty did not need to bind their feet. It was precisely from the Song Dynasty (960-1234 AD) that Confucian scholars and even farm men became obsessed with it. The "three-inch golden lotus" that is sought after for women. But we all know that China's feudal society had been formed before Qin Shihuang unified the country (221 BC). From this we can see that the custom of binding small feet is not a companion of feudal society and patriarchal society.

The biggest question now is why in the Song Dynasty, an era that has become more civilized with the progress of history, the inhumane and cruel custom of binding women's feet was prevalent. Come on. In fact, the term "three-inch golden lotus" originated from Xiao Baojuan, the young emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty, who praised his beloved concubine Pan Yuer's pair of delicate, boneless and beautiful feet, "Lotus flowers grow with every step!" However, the Sui and Tang Dynasties at that time and later did not have the same aesthetic appreciation of feet. Such a tendency has not appeared, so the prevalence of women's bound feet in the Song Dynasty cannot be accidental. It must have its social and ideological roots. Because the time is so long and it is difficult to find first-hand information, we can only make some reasonable inferences based on the social and cultural historical data at that time. Now I want to do my best to do some in-depth thinking and exploration on this issue.

Any phenomenon can find its roots in social history and reality, and its roots can generally be traced to culture, and the bad custom of small feet is no exception. The cultural environment in which the custom of small feet exists must be an irrational culture. Generally speaking, the singleness or monotony of core ideas in cultural connotation can easily lead to cultural irrationality. Because there is a lack of debate among different ideas, it is difficult to reflect on the ideas themselves. At the same time, the unification of core ideas in culture because Without the checks and balances of other ideas, it is easy to go to extremes. When this abnormal culture dominates a country, the people of this country as individuals are simplified by a single thought. No matter whether they are themselves or compared with other individuals, they cannot find the inner drive to think. As a whole, Because there is no internal difference, the whole lacking internal contradictions loses the driving force for progress. When the entire country has basically stopped thinking, the people will completely stick to the existing abnormal culture, and gradually become inert to the extreme. The country and the people will inevitably enter an irrational state. It is particularly unfortunate that the monolithic core ideas in culture interact with the irrational state dominated by it to form a vicious circle. In this case, it is not surprising that any absurd things happen and may continue for a long time. . In the Song Dynasty, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was a realistic interpretation of the above reasoning. Both Zhu's Neo-Confucianism and Cheng's Xinxue further developed Confucianism, raising the Doctrine of the Mean to the level of natural principles, and based on what they believed to be the principle of separation of Tao and tools, they proposed the principle of "preserving natural principles and destroying human desires" Thought.

This kind of thinking embodies extreme disrespect for dignified individuals such as human beings. When this kind of thinking becomes the mainstream ideology of the entire society, once the smallness of feet becomes the standard for judging whether a woman is beautiful (in fact, it has been elevated to virtuous). and moral standards), it is not surprising that the whole society is indifferent to the pain suffered by women.

The Song Dynasty was a relatively weak regime among all Chinese dynasties. On the one hand, its territory is limited to the Central Plains and the area south of the Yangtze River, and the people in this area are basically Han Chinese, so both regional and ethnic cultures are relatively homogeneous. This situation is conducive to the formation of authority for a certain kind of thought across the country. status. During the Han and Tang dynasties, because they owned the vast deserts of the Western Regions and had intact limbs, Chang'an, the political and cultural center, was the intersection of Hu and Han cultures. This is why even from the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had begun to realize that Confucianism was a way for the rulers to fool the people. He gave Dong Zhongshu a good medicine and asked Dong Zhongshu to depose hundreds of schools of thought and respect Confucianism alone. However, this did not lead to the totalitarian status of Confucianism in society during the Han and Tang Dynasties. On the other hand, throughout the history of the Song Dynasty regime, it has always been in a passive position on the battlefields with ethnic minority regimes such as Jin, Liao, and Xixia. There are also two voices in the court: war and peace, but they advocate surrender and tribute. The faction has always had the upper hand, and the royal family also tends to seek peace and harmony, but this increases the tax burden on the people, and the people are in dire straits, and peasant uprisings are raging. Because of this situation of internal and external difficulties, and the weakness of the regime itself, almost no dynasty is as good as The people in power in the Song Dynasty were full of desire for stability and order.

The core of Confucianism is the supremacy of morality, and the most basic moral norms are the "Three Cardinal Guidelines and the Five Constant Virtues". The Three Cardinal Guidelines are the ruler as the guideline for his ministers, the father as the guideline for his son, and the husband as the guideline for his wife. The five constant guidelines are benevolence, righteousness, Courtesy, wisdom, and trust. It can be seen that Confucianism is an idea that emphasizes order and shaping authority, and is an idea that safeguards imperial power and male power. This is in line with the needs of the political power at that time. Therefore, the rulers extremely respected Confucianism and implemented it deeply and strictly in their rule. Implement and vigorously develop Confucianism. Both patriarchal power and imperial power belong to the category of totalitarianism and authoritarianism. They are both advocated by Confucianism and they are of the same origin. As the authority of the imperial power was further deified, the stronger status of men relative to women was further enhanced, and the strength of men was relative to the weakness of women. That is to say, this more powerful status must be based on the further reduction and weakening of women's status. on the basis of. One thing should be mentioned here. Men in the Song Dynasty were relatively repressed. They basically failed in wars against foreigners. In addition to macro factors such as national power and military, there was another important reason. When fighting on the ancient battlefield, When the level of France is close, the strength and wildness of soldiers are crucial. The Song Dynasty army is at a similar level to the northern ethnic minorities in terms of military use. However, because the soldiers are basically Han people, and most of them come from the south of the Yangtze River, they are relatively obviously lacking in strength and wildness. Failure on the battlefield is not surprising, but the resulting huge frustration was a heavy psychological torture to the men of the Song Dynasty. In a patriarchal society like the Song Dynasty, men had an innate pride in their own strength. However, when their pride was severely damaged by their inability to protect their families and country, they would instinctively find a way out. To carry broken dignity. Obviously, women are the most suitable candidates. Ban Zhao, a talented woman in the Han Dynasty, once mentioned in her famous "Female Commandments": "Yin and Yang are different in nature, and men and women have different behaviors. Yang is strong as virtue, and yin is soft as function. Men regard strength as noble, and women regard weakness as beauty. "It can be seen that in Chinese history, men's strength was essentially set off by women's weakness. Therefore, it was inevitable that men at that time subconsciously forced women to move to a more vulnerable position, thus compensating for their lost self-esteem on the battlefield. Find balance. After women's feet were bound, they had to lift their feet slightly and twist their waists (the so-called lotus steps) due to inconvenience in walking, which made them appear weak. Since they could not move around easily, they had to stay at home to take care of their husbands and children, and be a quiet and good wife. Mother, this is consistent with the order that the Song Dynasty regime longed for, and it was also the realm advocated by the Confucian culture that was gradually going to the extreme at that time. It also secretly catered to a common psychological need among men at that time. Therefore, the prevalence of women's foot-binding in the Song Dynasty was determined by the extremely abnormal macro-social situation and cultural atmosphere of the society at that time.

The vulgar custom of binding small feet could continue from the Song Dynasty to the early Republic of China. The most reasonable explanation can only be that after the Song Dynasty, extreme Confucianism, that is, the etiquette that imprisoned human nature was brought to the extreme. Zhu Neo-Confucianism has always occupied a dominant position in society. However, the inheritance of the macroscopic thoughts of society from generation to generation is realized by living individuals in the microcosm. In the final analysis, the continuation of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism is made by spiritual people from generation to generation. The comprehensive result of choices, what a man-made tragedy. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, with the development of the international situation and frequent exchanges at home and abroad, the wind of Western civilization gradually spread in the country. Intellectuals took the lead in awakening and began to actively promote various schools of Western thought. , reflecting on some of the shortcomings of our traditional culture, this thinking gradually spread to the entire society. Under the influence of this diverse cultural atmosphere, social thinking at that time was very active. People began to truly rationally examine their irrational customs and habits that were bound by ethics. Therefore, it was a matter of course that men's long braids gave rise to After cutting it off, the woman has relaxed enough.

However, the pain and humiliation of Chinese women's foot-binding for thousands of years cannot be erased from our history with such a light stroke. Only a deep reflection on history can allow us to overcome ignorance and continue to move forward in the footsteps of history.