Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1858-02-03
CHINEsE FooT.CRAMPING.

Il y
! One of the earliest inquiries of a foreigner,
when he visits that monster curioSity-shop-
ssthe fowery land''-is anent this point; and
any newcomer from the West, be he never SO
modest. is sure to watch the pediclcs of the
first Chinese beauty or ugly he meets. But,
| should he bring up in the Southern waters of
China, the impression common throughout
Christendom.) that the stinted foot is univer-
sal among the Chinese women, is at once bro
ken. The Canton boatmen. who arc most ex-
pert ut the car, are the earliest to hail your
approach to the shores, and they show by their
naked foot that they find it more convenient
to suffer this member to grow to Its natural
size. And generally speaking, the female do
mestics of the Canton province preferred this
freedom of nature. With truth too, ii may be
averred, that, among the lower classes, the
popularity of this Objectionable fashion is Of
ten but local. Thus, in Chusan and Ningpo.
where l resided for eighteen months, in 1912
and 1913, can scarcely recall single instance
of q natural-sized foot among the women, even
the maid servants. But subsequent resi-
dence IN the North, particularly my travel
through the interior of the Canton, kianges,
and Chihkiang provinces, daily brought in
stances of females to whom the undistorted
foot seemed indispensable for the sake OF live
lhood.
But, as it is an error to say that the cramped
foot is universal in China, it is no less mis-
take to state, what have seen in print, ssthat
only parents of the wealthier sort can afford to
their daughters the luxury of small feet"
The streets and houses, in every town accessi-
bic to foreigners, abundantly testify how this
fashion is mimcked by all classes. Even a
mong the poor, who are likely to appreciate
the value of preserving it in its natural size,
there is another mode of calculating the profit
and loss of the bandaged foot. When their
daughters are given in marriage, ssthe golden
lilies,'' their delicate feet politely call
ed, come in matter of no trifing pecuni-
4 4 ~ ,l,,N,f
that many who have submitted to the torture
till marriage, have felt it absolutely necessary
to uDlose the bandages and set themselves
free, to assist their husbands in the garden
in the fields, &c. Yet, it is unquestionable,
That among the lowest orders too, as well as
the richer, the custom is popular and fashion
able. In gangs of female beggars which have
passed me in the streets of some of their cit
les, have seen those whose bodies were COW
cred with rags and vermin, but whose feet
were bound as tightly and squeezed to as mi
mute dimensions as you might witness in any
wealthy family. Not unusually, what to your
eye seems foot duly bound and bandaged, is
all sham, and got up for the sake of aping re-
Spectabi1ty. A nurse in the family in her
olutons by day, will sport quasi -cramped feet,
but when suddenly called up at midnight, viii
expose feet Of ordinary and unmutilated di-
mensions. The pretence is admirably kept
up, in some instances, by wearing short stills,
with small wooden feet in elegantly em6roi-
dered shoes. The writer has seen the part of
a Chinese actress piayed. one of whose chief
attractions was remarkably small and elegant
foot. The gait, the manner, were entirely
feminine. However, it turned ont to be moth
ing but imitation, TO the very feet--all per-
formed by youth
Some Europeans, / see, who conceive that
there is no species of monstroSity but what
must be laid at the door of the Tartar con-
querors, boldly assert that the cramped foot
I,-&
they mounted the throne of China. There is
not the slightest foundation, however, for
such an assertion. The written accounts Of
the natives in tracing this custom, go much
further back than 200 years. One author
ascribes its origin to an infamous woman,
Tankey, who lived D. C. 100. She was en-
press at the time. Having been born with
club-feet, she, by her marvellous influence
over her husband, induced him to adopt her
form OF foot rs the model of beauty, and to
enforce, by imperial cdict, the compression of
the feet of female infants down to this impe-
rial standard. Others are of opinion that the
det estable custom arose ,700 years after her,
or A. d. GOO. According to them, the then
reigning monarch Yangte, ordered pet con-
cubine to bandage her foot. On the sole of
her shoe she had stamped the Lotus flower
and each step this royal mistress took, size left
OH the grounds print of the Lotus or water
lily. On this account, to the present day. the
bandaged feet of Chinese ladies are conpii-
mentcd rs ssgolden liiies.o But another ac-
count maintains that the fashion owes its ex-
istence to whim of Le-yuh, q licentious and
tyrannical prince of the Tang dynasty, who
held his court at Nanlking about A. d. 9l6. 1t
seems that one day rs he was amusing himself,
the thought struck him he might improve the
appearance of the feet of a choice favorite in
his harem by bending the instep, and laising
it into an arch, in his imaginary something re-
sembling the new moon. How a resern biance
+..l, - Il to
theless, the courtiers were so taken with admi-
ration of this coHto-tion. that the novel form
was Immediately introduced into their families.
During the anarchy that prevailed at the o.
pening of the present dynasty, notorious
robber-chief, who had particular detestation
of the club-feet of Chinese women, chopped
off the feet Of very large number of females
and raised vast pile of them. But the names
of those injured women are described not as
crying for vengeance upon the bandit chief
but upon the head of that unpopular aud uu
lucky Prince Le-yuh whom they regard as the
real occasion of their suferings. Heaven is
represented as responding to the appeal of
these unfortunates by sentencing the tyrant to
make 1,G00, 900 pair of shoes for the women of
China with his own fingers.
Generally, the result of such binding is,
that four of the toes are bent under the sole,
the big toe only being left free, and the insIep
is forced up into bulge. Accouingy Tue
walk of ssthc littlc-footed ceestia's' is short
and uuick step, with swinging of the arms
precisely as in walking on ones heeis. Inc
Chinese compare this to the waving OF viii
low before gentle breeze! Frequently. to
support themselves in walking, these sswaving |
wiilows,s use an umbrella, make a walking
stick OF an attendant, or lean upon the shoui-
der of a respectable grandson. 1t cannot be /
doubted that cases of gangrene have occurred |
from such severe compression Of the foot !; |
and loss of both feet, or of life, and other g. |