Dana HendelmanEyal TenneYaniv Cohen

English for pre academic 2010

Chinese Foot bindingIntroductionOriginFoot binding as a status symbolProcess of bindingProblemsFoot binding todayConclusionBibliography

IntroductionFoot binding or ‘ LOTUS FOOT‘ was a custom

practiced on young girls and women for approximately one thousand years in China.

Foot binding was the act of wrapping a three- to five-year old girl's feet with binding.

Its purpose was to produce a tiny foot, and deny the feet from growing.

The custom of foot binding was at first a sign of wealth but became fashionable and popular all over China.

Origin

The Chinese custom of breaking and binding a little girl’s feet began over one thousand years ago , it began at the 10th century by Prince Li Yu.

The custom of foot binding was at first a sign of wealth, as the woman with a properly bound foot could do very little. This remained a custom of the royalty, nobility and very rich people.

At the beginning of the 17th the custom was already been implemented all over China by the poor people who tried to imitate the upper classes .

Foot binding as a status symbolWealth

Fashion

Sexual object

Marriage status

Process of bindingStarted before the arch of the foot fully developed  Involved breaking the arch of the foot Left a ~5 cm deep cut

Toes curled under until breaking using no pain relief

Binding then crushingThe desired result: 7–9 cm from toe to heel

ProblemsThe process was extremely painful

The girl's broken feet required a great deal of care and attention – rebinding: The bindings were pulled ever tighter each time While unbound, the girl's feet were often beaten The girl was required to walk on her freshly broken and

bound feet InfectionFaulty blood circulation Rotting flesh, toes dropping offDisease and even death from shockOlder women were more likely to fall down

Foot binding todayThe practice of foot-binding continued into the 20th

centuryIn 1911 the government of china banned foot

binding. Chinese and Western missionaries called for reform- a true anti-foot-binding movement emerged

When the Communists took power in 1949, they were able to enforce a strict prohibition on foot-binding, including in isolated areas deep in the countryside where the Nationalist prohibition had been ignored .

The prohibition of foot-binding is still valid today.

ConclusionThe custom of foot binding has been started as a fashionable reason and became a traditional custom .Today we see it as an inhuman behavior but we shouldn't discount it . Our cultures and the Chinese culture are totally different. habits that can be normal in one culture can be unacceptable in other cultures . Beside the physical process and consequences, the custom reflected status classes and 1000 years old tradition. As the human awareness spread into China the foot binding started to be condemned and eventually had been forbidden Who knows ?! The custom of foot binding is unacceptable in the western point of view . But maybe, in 1000 years from now a Chinese student will have an assignment in his pre academic studies and he will claim that this is wrong:

Bibliography

Wolf, Margery D., and Dunne Arthur "Fashion's Delvolepments and Idea in the Chinese Women Society." Women in Chinese Society 3 (1982): 89-93.

Thomas, Gold D. "The History and the Present of the Asian Footwear." Footwear - a Short History of Asian Shoes, 3 (1989): 3-9

Lisa Loomer, "The Waiting Room". Short briefing about foot binding " . (Dramatists Play Service Inc., January 1988)

John Fletsher "The earliest and most prominent legend of the beginning of foot-binding is the tale of Sung Dynasty" http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art29600.asp (april 4th 2002)

Leah, Grinfield. "The Golden Lotus Feet." Leah grinfield. http://www.macom.org.il/Lotus-feet.pdf (accessed January 1, 1996).

Unknown, .. "Foot Binding." Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_binding (accessed January 1, 2004).