“IF YOU LOVE YOUR DAUGHTER YOU CANNOT LOVE HER FEET” Chinese Culture

The Process…

“The custom of binding feet was said to have been adopted by courtesans after a Tang Dynasty emperor 1,000 years ago fell for a concubine who wrapped her tiny feet in silk when she danced”

To bind or not to bind… NOTES

Arguments in Favor of Foot-binding If a girl’s feet are not bound, people say she is not like a woman but like a man and they laugh at her, call her names, and her parents are ashamed of her. It is very important that their feet be bound short so that they will walk beautifully, with mincing steps, swaying gracefully, thus showing they are persons of respectability. If not bound short, they say the mother has not trained her daughter carefully. One of good family does not wish to marry a woman with long feet. She is pitied because her feet are not perfect. The large-footed has to do rough work

Wang Lifen – Caught between two changing generations

Arguments in Favor of Foot-Binding o Girls are like gold, like gems. They ought to stay in their own house. If their feet are not bound, they go here and there with unfitting associates. They have no good name. They are the defective gems that are rejected. o Parents are covetous. They think small feet are pleasing and will command a high price for a bride.

WHY WOULD WOMEN WANT TO DO THIS TO THEIR FEET? WHY WOULD MOTHERS SUBJECT THEIR DAUGHTERS TO THIS? What do you think about foot-binding?