The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1889-10-15
N LADIES' FEET.
A Pedal Extremity Two Inches in
Length the Idol of a Chinaman.

Length the Idol Of a Chinaman.
At five years of age the rich Chinaman's
| daughter has her foot so firmly bound
that, in the native phase, the whole is
killed. The foot below instep, explains
a writer in the New York Ledger, is
pressed into a line with the leg, to add to
the height of the little sufferer, while two
of the toes are bent under the sole, that
its breadth may be only of the least di-
mansions. The agony of such a process
it would be hard to estimate; but 1t Is
said to last about six weeks, when, L sup
pose, the wasting of all the parts, n the
cessation of many of their functions, have
rendered the whole insensible to pain.
This inSensibility to pain is, perhaps,
confined to the outer parts, for the chief
person belonging to the temple on the
| Island of Honam stated that his sister
suffered much anguish in the sole OF the
foot, or rather, in its lower and more CEN
trail parts.
To some INQUIRIES as to whether this
practice of destroying the foot was not
attended with similar evils in after-life,
he said no; and as he was a man of in
| t~elligence, his verdict may be relied upon.
Among the multitudes who come for
health and cure to the hospitals, no one
has yet been met with whose ailments
could be imputed to this source. This is
a curious fact, and such as might well lead
us to desire a more intimate acquaintance
with the anatomy of this morbid organ,
that we might see how nature, under the
pressure of so great a calamity, has con-
trived to main tain the intercourse of the
~arterial and nervous system, and keep the
limb from being materially injured by it.
The development of the muscles which
form the calf of the leg being checked,
the limb consequently tapers from is
socket down to the foot, without any
rising or infections. This is regarded as
the perfection of beauty by the Chinese,
who say that the knee of the female is
not protuberant, like the knee of the
male, and is so we'll covered that she can
remain kneeling a long time without in
convenience. 1t is perhaps less through
out its length than when the foot is
allowed to retain its natural size; but
whether this is from want of exercise,
which ever acts as q stimulus to muscular
deformity, or from the lack of nutriment
through functional disturbance, I cannot
take upon me to say; but I suspect tie
former is the real cause; otherwise the
matter would grow from bad to worse,
till the whole was destroyed by atrophy.
A foot two inches in length is the idol
of a Chinaman, on which he lavishes the
most precious epithets which nature and
language can supply. But its beauties
are altogether ideal; for when stripped
of its gay investments, 1t is a piteous mass
of lifeless integument, which resembles
the skin of a washerwoman's hand after
1t has under n a long maceration in
soap and water. The sight of it is we'll
fitted to excite our compassion, not our
commendation-a beautiful limb crushed
into a heap of deformity.
The thought of seeing a Chinawoman's
foot might awaken a smile; but / think |
might defy the most meFry-hearted to
laugh when the loosened bandages dis
closed the sad reality to his eyes. But
fancy has played her part so well that
this piece of ruined nature, which is sell
dom seen by men, is treated as the prime
essential of all feminine beauty.
"The foot of a Chinese woman" said
l to a Chinese acquaintance, "is very
handsome, so that it is a great pity to
spoil it." He smiled with much s~atisfac-
ton at the compliment, but would only
allow that it interfered with the gait.
"They can not walk so WE'LL" was the
amount of his concession in my favor.
He was so blessed as not to know the
real state of this organ, and therefore his
admiration had no alloy.
Custom rendered my eye so familiar to
the small foot that a Chinese lady would
scarcely seem to be complete without it;
but it was my misfortune to see it I'M
masked, and therefore 1 could not sympa-
thize with him. To show that there is
great privacy about this small foot, I need
only mention that the servant, when her
mistress proceeded to unwind the ban
dages, blushed and turned her face to the
wall.