Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-09-08
CHINA'S CRUEL FASHION.
Supposed Origin of Binding the Feet
Of Children.
From Leslie's Weekly.

From Leslies Weekly.
| All who have the slightest knowledge OF
| China have heard of the custom Of binding
the feet of Chinese girls but few are
quainted with the painful process adopted
to secure the dimnutive feet which the
Chinese prize SO highly. 1t is not known
how this cruel custom originated, and the
| Chinese themselves seem to be uncertain
as to when 1t was adopted, but tradition re-
| lates that a certain Empress of emma,
| somewhere back in the twilight of Chinese
history, was afflicted with club feet, and
compelled all the ladies of the court TO bind
| their feet, in the attempt to secure arti-
fcially the same deformity which nature
had inflicted upon her.
There are two distinct styles of binding
| the feet in vogue among the Chinese, but
the process is the same in both cases. the
different results being secured by the way
in which the binding is done. The instru-
ment used is a small roll of firm cotton
webbing about two and one-half inches
wide. This webbing must have no stretch
or give to 1t, and is woven especially for
such use. The process Is usually begun
when the girls have reached the age Of six
or seven years, though in some cases where
particularly. dainty pair of golden lilies,"
as the Chinese call these poor deformities,
is desired, the binding is begun as early az
the third or fourth year.
The foot is taken and all the toes except
the great toe bent under the instep, which
is thus forced up When this has contin-
ued for some time and the foot has become
quite pointed in shape and the instep cons
sideraby arched, the binding is extended
and the heel and toes drawn together, thus
preventing the growth OF the foot in length.
In the style of binding in north China
greater pains taken to preserve tho
pointed effect, while in southern China the
shortness of the foot is much desired
that the pointed effect is almost lost and the
feet become mere StumpS.
The excrucating pain endured by Chinese
girls in the process of foot binding is inn
| To tn VII
the feet growing, they are bound and
wrapped SO tightly with the webbing that
circulation is almost entirely cut off, and
the bandage is left on just long as posi-
BILE, often for weeks, for it is a saying that
every dressing of the feet loses mite OF
daintiness. But the worst of it is that the
torture is drawn out through lifetime,
for the binding can never cease. The seama
and assures caused in the feet by their dis
tortion become sore and often gangrena
sets in and carries off the sufferer. In or
der to prevent this 1T is customary to pow
der the feet with saltpeter while binding
them, thus literally putting them in pickle
to preserve them. The result of this bind
ing is that all the weight of the body in
standing is thrown on the heel and the foot
| loses the power to balance the body. A
small-footed woman cannot stand still, but,
| like one on stills, she must constantly be
| stepping backward or forward to keep her
| balance.
1t is strange how this cruel fashion freak
| has fastened itself on the Chinese women,
| to whom it has become the badge of re-
| spectability and whose elegance and dis
| tinction are measured by the greatness OF
| their deformity. The most advantageous
marriages are made by those whose golden
| lilies are the most petite, and those other
wise undesirable become prizes If possessed
of tiny feet.
The custom is peculiar to the Chinese,
for the Mongols and Manchus have never
adopted it; but dear is it to the Chinese
that the greatest emperor of the present
dynasty, who successfully imposed upon the
Chinese the wearing of the queue as a
badge of subsection, did not dare to risk his
authority in attempt to stamp out the
custom of binding feet, though he prohibited
the practice within the limits of his capital
at Pekin. The work of missionaries is.
however beginning to make itself felt, and
native societies at last pressing to
abolish this cruel and ancient custom.