New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-02-20
CHINESE FOOTBIND1NG.
THE INTRICATE PROCESS WHICH FIXES
A Girl. BABY's SOCIAL POSITION.

MING JUNG THE PROFESSIONAL BINDER OF
CALIFORNIA AND HER MODE OF oP-
GRATING UPON HER CUSTOMERS
VALUE or A LITTLE
FOOT WIFE.
Ios Arce,es Cal. Feb 5.-There is a wide
ocean Of difference between the social WORLDS Vi
A., c,;,oeo woman with feet no larger than
tbose of q newborn babe and others OF her sen
ord race who walk on two natural-siZeo iee''
Tho difference has a long history dating pacA
countless centuries among the Mohgo'ian''
Amonp all classes OF Chinese the woman OF tic
little foot has a rank and prestige that wofhah
with a foot moulded and fashioned py ha'u'c
cannot hope to achieve. The art OF pro'eS
sional footbinder is a necessity In all |h''e'e
families where there is any desire Tor SOCIAL
recognition.
The woman OF the tiny feet tolls not, neither
does size spin and. Chinese style goes Is ai
raved in the height of fashion. she lois III
luxury's lap her body is clothed Ia silKeh RAJ
ment of the finest texture and most dehcate
hue while her jewels are diamonds ana rupies
cot in soft beaten gold and bracelets of jade
and Jasper encircle her wrists and arms IL she
leaves her house she either rides or Us supporter
on either side by bg-foot women
The natural-foot woman-"big-foot Is harhy
correct-is in vivid contrast to her little-foot
sister She is a drudge and slave Her dress II
the cheap coarse woven stuffs of the Chinese
and her hair dressed with unscented lard IN
stead Of the perfumed oils is bound with thread
instead of silk, and Is fastened with pins OF
brass instead Of gold. She Is beaten with stripes
when she fails in any Of her duties WORST Oh
ALL she is cheap. Any Chinese OF saving ais
position may buy natural-foot wife-seVer"
of them if he cares for that sort Of investment
II takes a rich man to buy a small-foot woman
and keep her in proper style.
FOoTBINDING A PAYING PROFESSION
There are about half dozen Chinese girls in
Los Angeles who undergoing the process or
having their feet moulded into the least possible
compass. and there are many more who are 60
Ing through the same experience in their homes
I'm San Francisco. The most experienced ana best
known footbnder In California is a woman OF
over fifty years, named Ming Jung. She has
calls for her services in every fairszed city on
the Pacific Coast, from San Diego to Victoria
and makes her headquarters in San Francisco,
where she is employed over half the time. Her
services are principally in the way Of beginning
the first footbindng processes on infant,
and then in advising to the best modes OF
binding after the little bones have been turned
or their growth arrested. Among the weather.
Chinese who afford 10 employ Ming Jung
to undertake the supervision and responsibility
OF the whole operation of footbinding, she
makes weekly visits through the greater part OF
five years. For such service she receives from
$500 to $1,000 Ming Jung is rich. The
assessors in San Francisco say she has an in
come OF fully $4,000 a year, and pays taxes on
over $50 900 worth OF visible property. Like a
large part Of her the Pacific Coast she
is gambler. Her own feet each two and
one-haf inches long, and little more than an
inch wide, while the ankles. far unlike those OF
Trilby are seventeen inches in circumference
Just above these monstrosites of feet.
Ming Jung down to Los Angeles from
San Francisco some weeks ago to begin the foot
binding process on several infants and to In
spect the progress OF similar work that she
started here some time earlier. The feet OF four
infants between the ages of three and seven
months were started their binding process,
md the feet of two girls were critically ex-
emined and further methods OF binding were ad-
vised. For each Of the frst-named operations a
fee Of So paid and for the examination and
advice in the last-named cases 50 was the price.
AN IMPORTANT CEREMONY.
At the rude adobe home Of 30 Sing. we-to-
DO merchant in the Chinatown Of Los Angeles,
the neighbors and friends Of the parents to the
number Of about sixty squeezed into two small.
noisome apartments to witness tho great event
In the Sing family and to see the famous profess
sional footbinder Of the Pacific Coast start a
little nursing child on a career of certain social
distinction among her sisters. The child was
placed in its mothers lap, and she held
and hody still yVhi her m he