Transcript Foot Binding - Miss v`s history class

The Song Dynasty
AIM: How did the Song Dynasty restore order to China?
DO NOW: Based on the SPICE chart from Friday, why are the
Tang and Song Dynasties referred to as the “medieval” period of
China?
Song Dynasty
• Ends “Five Dynasties
and 10 kingdoms”
• 300 years
• Another Golden Age
• Revives Civil service and
Confucianism
• How would this revival
restore order to China?
Agriculture
•
•
•
•
Irrigation techniques
New crops: cotton
Produce more tea to export
Increase in food
Trade
• Open ports to East
• Develop porcelain
• Paper money
Footbinding
Foot binding did not begin as a practice that
was meant to deform the feet, but rather as
a temporary measure to aid in dance –
much as ballet shoes are used today.
Around 970 A.D., the mistress of Emperor Li
Yu of the Tang dynasty performed a dance
on a ‘golden lotus’ pedestal, wrapping her
feet in silken cloths. The emperor was so
entranced by the beauty of the movement
that other women in the court imitated the
look. The practice soon became a fashion
among the upper classes and eventually
spread to all of society.
• The toes were bent down
underneath the foot and
wrapped tightly so they were
pushed up against the sole of
the foot.
• This would stop the normal
growth of the toes. The toes
would now grow into the sole of
the foot destroying the natural
arch.
• After several years of this
torture the feet were finally
unbound after the feet were
totally done growing. The
results were tiny feet that were
barely able to hold any weight
at all.
• These are the shoes of a person with bound
feet compared to normal size shoes. These
shoes called “lotus shoes” or “lily shoes”
were only about 3-4 inches long and only
about 1 ½-2 inches wide.
Professional foot binders were
sometimes employed, as it was
feared that the girl’s mother
would be more likely to bind the
feet loosely. The professional
foot binder would also break the
toes more severely in order to
attain the ideal: a three inch long
foot. The process itself took
around two years, but the feet
would stay bound for life.
Peasants and others of lower
classes were more likely to
bind their feet later in life –
and not as tightly – as they
needed to be more mobile to
be able to work in the fields.
For upper class women, the
‘treatment’ tended to be more
extreme.
Men's Views
*Men were in
high favor of foot
binding. This kept
women in their
homes and didn’t
let them go
seeking freedom
and liberation.
*This was one of many
ways women in China
were help back from
society.
* Men also thought
that the tiny delicate
steps that a women
had to take with
bound feet looked
feminine.
“There are a thousand buckets of
tears for one who binds her feet”
The practice of foot-binding
generally began when a girl was
between the ages of two and five.
After the feet were soaked in a
warm, softening mixture of herbs
and animal blood, they were next
massaged while the cotton
bandages were prepared. Next,
the toes were curled under the
foot and then forcefully broken
with great pressure.
This process destroyed
childhoods by not letting
children have fun. They
were unable to play or
run around because of
the excruciating pain that
was caused.
For the first few
years of the feet
being bound the
children had to be
carried or else
there disabled feet
would break. If the
feet were to break,
they were not able
to be fixed or heal
right because of the
mutilation they
were already put
through.
“A ‘lily footed’ woman of China”
After this agonizing start, the
foot was brought level with the
leg and the arch broken by force.
Bandages were then wrapped
around the feet, pressing the
broken toes tightly against the
sole of the foot, and squeezing
the ball and heel together.
Finally, the ends of the bandages
were sewn tightly so that they
could not be undone.
The feet would then regularly be
unbound, washed and kneaded,
with additional pain often caused
by beating the sole of the foot to
keep the bones broken. The feet
were then rebound – ever more
tightly each time. Whenever the
binding session was over, the girl
was immediately forced to walk
on her feet to crush them further.
Not to mention, none of this was
carried out with anesthetic.
In 1911, the Chinese
government finally outlawed
foot-binding. Today, although
the practice of foot-binding has
died out, one can still see
elderly women hobbling
around on broken feet, all in
the name of past notions
(ideas) of beauty.