Foot Binding, Status and Society in Early China Essay

In early on China, the Han Dynasty to the determination of the Manchu Dynasty, there was a practice greetn as nates covering. Foot spinal column was considered a emblem of status for women for some(prenominal) reasons. The disabling effects of pes screen caused women not to be able to recruit in any form of hard labour, it confined them to the home, and was considered erotic by men, thus acceptable. The explanation for binding ones feet tells us that society at the time was extremely patriarchal, that a womens chastity was extremely important, and that it was clamant for women to conform to changing ethnic ideals.Foot binding was a practice that started during the Tang Dynasty when a prince, Li Yo, enjoyed watching his concubine dance before him with tiny alternate lily feeti. Since then it became popular in the Han Dynasty. Women would lave and massage their daughters feet, turn their toes under, and then they would break their daughters arches, and finally wrap the basis tightly in a cotton bandage pulling the big toe and heel together as well as hold the rest of the toes in placeii. The average length of the foot was three inches after the process had been completed.This caused the foot to be seriously deformed. The women would be disabled to the point where they could barely walk of life sometimes toes would even thole off as a result of the bindingsiii. Working and peasant class women would not usually project their feet bound because it was necessary for them to be able to do manual labour, scarce if mothers desired for their daughters to marry into proper families they would risk losing their daughters labour to bind their daughters feet. pic Foot binding was considered a symbol of status for several reasons, many elating to how women were seen during this era.The earlier Chinese peoples had a society based on Confucian values. Confucianism has its asylum on the Yin and Yang idealiv. Yin is the representative of all that is bad, wea k, and female and Yang is all that is grave, strong, and male. The same can be seen in early Chinese values. At the time of foot binding the Chinese felt that women were weak, immoral, and should be subservient to men. custody felt that the female body should be repressed to keep it chaste and to keep women in their modest place. in that locationfore the bound foot allowed women to show their loyalty, publicly, to these ideals. A char who lived as an obedient and chaste psyche was desirable to men at the time and foot binding was a way for women to show that they were this way. There are other reasons as well, why foot binding was used as an emblem of status. in like manner being a sign of chastity and obedience in a woman, being desirable traits, foot binding was used to show that a female was of a wealthy background (in the beginning). A woman who had her feet bound as a child could not endure standing for any lengthy stopover of time unassisted.Standing on a bound foot was very painful and most carried a cane to shift their weight on. and then, if women could barely stand with bound feet, they also could not work. This meant that only women from families that could open to do without their labour could afford to bind their feet. As a result when a mans family, of wealthy background, was in search of a bride they would search for a bride with bound feet because they not only would know that she was from a wealthy background herself, but knew she would not leave the home often, and would not cheat.Mothers often started the binding process on their daughters as young as four years old to ensure their daughters a good marriage later in lifev. This shows that it was important for a woman to marry into a good family because women were unforced to endure such pain for elevated social status and a secure life. When foot binding was prevalent, a mans needs were second only to a parents needs. When men began to find foot binding physically erotic many women had their feet bound to make themselves to a greater extent attractive to the opposite sex.Just as women today squeeze their feet into tight torturous high heels for the saki of cosmetics, Chinese women bound their feet for the same reason for the sake of being more physically attractive for men. custody found the staggering dance-like walkvi of the bound foot to be extremely erotic. As well the struggle to walk actually made the muscles of the vagina tighter, increasing sexual pleasure for menvii. During this period men found the foot to be the most alluring part of the female body, when tightly bound to a length of three inches.Therefore not only was a bound foot a symbol of wealth and adherence to cultural values, but it was also a sign of beauty. The Manchu Dynasty tried to abolish the tradition of foot binding during its rule, but failed. The practice of foot binding went on in China for approximately one thousand years. It was illegalise after 1911 when the Manchu Dynasty fell. There are actually women who still practice foot binding today because they timber it is attractive, but their numbers are very smallviii.Though the practice is almost extinct today, foot binding continued somewhat after its being outlawed for the sake of tradition which is very important in Chinese culture, then and now. The entire practice of foot binding tells the historian a lot well-nigh Chinese society up to the end of the reign of the Manchu Dynasty. Foot binding shows how China was an extreme patriarchy. fellowship at the time felt that a womans place was in the home and to be chaste, a bound foot kept her there. A woman who had bound feet openly showed that she was more than willing to conform to the values of the age for the sake of status.The practice of foot binding also showed that when it came time to be married it was important to be from a wealthy background to ensure a good match, and perceptual constancy within the marriage. Finally, foot binding shows tha t in this era women were seen as objects for they enjoyment of men. From the first concubine who bound her feet and danced for a prince to satisfy his desire, to later women who did it to be seen as sexual objects, foot binding has been a system to gratify mens desires, despite the pain and malformation it causes.