The age-herald., 1898-07-23
THE FOOT REFORM
 IN CHINA


 Tientsin Correspondent of the London Tel-
 egraph.
 A fashionable reform is in full progress in China which encourages the most san- guine expectations. I refer to the anti foot-binding movement. That unique dis tinction of Chinese womanhood, which none of the satellite nations around have imi- tated and which. from time to time be- yend memory, has excited the interest and sympathy of Englishwomen, is giving way before the attacks of native and foreign common sense. The usage was purely a matter of fashion-not at all of religion, and in no sense Confucian. The mothers of Confueius and Mencius and the other great men whom China adores never saw bound foot Rather a pity they did not, for it might have saved generations of un- told suffering. The Great Master who taught that children owed no duty more sacred than to return to the earth their limbs as they had received them would probably have sternly repressed a barbar- ous custom that made the daughters of China virtual cripples. It was centuries after his time-one cannot exactly tell when or why-that the practice was instituted. picture of the regent empress in 1251 shows her with natural feet, but there is reason to think the craze had begun at that time,- though it might not have reached the throne.
 All this aceursed system is now being most successfully attacked. Never has there been a reform attempted in China that has proceeded so hopefully. It is uniting the best philanthropy. native and foreign, and fashion, the origin of the mis- chief is ranging itself the side of pro- gross. ' English, American, and other foreign ladies who form the committee at Shanghai will deserve a perpetual monu- ment, with their names inscribed in eter- nal brass for starting their movement at the precise moment when China was ready for it, and for the skill with which they have carried it on. In particular, may mention the executive Mrs. Drummond, Mrs. Afford, Mrs. Andersen, Mrs. Dowdall, Miss Elwin, Frau Noting. @Dr. Elizabeth Reifsnyder, Mrs. Thorne, Mrs Edkins, Mrs. Little, and Mrs Bondfeld. With woman's keen insight, these ladies saw that the mat rimonial motive was the crux of the whole cruel and sordid business The fashiona- ble plea is out of date. Time was when the rich alone, those who could afford the
 
 in their sedan chairs, or riding in carriages, were victims of the social folly; but that day is past. The evil has gone down to the lowest stratum, and now it is no longer an honor even to be a cripple Indeed, tho honor will apparently soon be the other way, for the report of the new society states that Chinese ladies of distinction are coming forward to found @ school for girls of the upper classes, the first rule of which is that all girls who enter it must be unbound" Celestials have their social weaknesses, and the moment the word goes round that it is now the correct thing in the Mandarin classes for ladies' to have natural feet, from that moment stumps, alias golden lilies, will be deemed vulgar. But the executive of the Tien Tsu Hui saw that every argument of nationality and hu- manity would fail unless they could con- vince the mothers of China that the mar riage prospects of their daughters would not suffer by the reform. There's the rub; all else is unimportant. At meeting re- gently held at Tieptsin, Mrs. Smith, the principal speaker. ayowed that this was the alpha and omega of the matter. Said this lady:
 In every country women do take, must
 
 married, and nowhere do the women think it particular and honorable mark of dis- tinction to be known as old maids. But in no country that I know of Is so much and prolonged physical pain endured for the sake of getting a husband as in China,
 And straightway the speaker appealed to the young Chinamen present to enroll their names in the growing number of those who have bound themselves to marry wives unbound At the end of the gather- ing some twenty students signed the pledge" China is land where nearly ev- erybody marries, and the bachelor and old maid are rare. Seeking partners for life is recognized duty about which there is less delicacy than with us. People marry very young and mere children are betroth- ed. Recognizing these facts, the society keeps a book in which are registered on the one side eligible brides and on the other possible husbands All those who sign this book pledge themselves to seek unbound brides for their sons and not to bind their daughters feet" One of the objects, it is naively stated, is that "any man wanting an unbound bride for his son may look In this book and see exactly among what families she is likely to be found" Here is a combination of business and sentiment that directly helps the good cause. Cruel as the bandaging practice is, by it's omission in their cases, their matri. monial prospects suffered. An instance of this kind occurred in Shantung, where I . was recently. The Rev. Perry Bruce. of Tsin-Chow persuaded the Christian parents of two girls not to bind their feet, but when these reached ten or twelve they resented the treatment with burning indignation. "Why are we different from other girls? And who will marry us with feet like these?" pretty face captivates in the west, pretty feet in the east. The reform ing society wants to convince the youth of both sexes that they will gain socially by the change To this end the name has been happily chosen. ..Tien" means heav- enly as well as natural, and "heavenly feet" sounds almost as nice as golden lilies"