The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-12-21

binding is put, so that the foot e rtIts
looks like a club. S
AS the child grows the bandaoe.
nave to be made tighter and tightar
and the children must be punished -
keep them from tearing them off
IS a common saying that every small
foot has flied a hogshead with tear
l have heard Of cruel mothers who
keep a club beside them at nigh il
case they cry from the pain in tbs
feet, but l doubt if this is the case ex-
cept with the mothers-in~law. Uho
have a bad reputation in China. Son,e
lines opium is given to quiet the
pain. and sometimes the girl hanrs
her legs over the edge Of the wooden
bedStead. go as to stop the circula-
ton and thus ease it. If the bindj7o
is too tight the DOT is liable to break
in two at the instep, and the bones
come through the flesh. Sometimes
modification sets in and the toes
drop OF. have known of women
losing their .oet by having them
frozen, the lack OF circulation pra-
venting them from resisting the cold
At a Canton hospital which visited
some time ago a woman who had lost
her feet In this way walked in on
the stumps to be treated.
Can the Cripples Be Cured?
One Of the live questions when IL
| now before the women of china is
whether their feet can be cured If
| they take off the handages. In the
case of the Older women it is. al
though wen they can be relieved OF
pain. Their deforn1ed feet, however
| cannot De made over again, and they
must walk with canes or hobbie to
She end Of their days. The feet III
the OUNCE women largely resume
| heir natural shape, although they
h.vo nonn ~ tho haa,tv ne 49,
which have not been bound. The I'M
binding has to be carefully done. and
| tie feet must be rubbed and end
to increase the circulation. It is diff
cult to persuade the women who have
| been binding their feet to stop. but
the young girls are wild for the
change, and that especially as it is
now becoming possible to get a hus~
band if ones foot is large. Indeed.
the Rig fot, Oh rather the unbound
fot, isliable to be a beau-catcher. AS
a Chinese official said to me, the men
Of the new regime are anxious to have
their wives go about with them. and
those whO have q chance to travel
abroad would like their
This IS not possible with the small
footed roman who has often to walk
with a cane or to ave servants sup
port when she goes out from home.
Anti ootbin0ing Societies.
This movement against fotbinding is
being pushed by associations Of ma
tive men and women in different parts
Of China. There is an organization
In Canton, know as the No Footbind-
ing Society, to which ten Thousand
fathers belong. They have pledged
themselves not to bind the feet of
their daughters and not to object to
their sons marrying girls with bound
feet. Many of the wives Of the mem
bers have taken off the bandages, and
literature denouncing the custom IL
being distributed
There Is q similar organization in
far western China on the borders OF
Tibet. and for some years a propa'
ganda against this evil has been car
ried on at Snanehai. There is an
English woman OF Shanghai who had
done more perhaps TO- the fe1nAIe
cripples Of this nation than any na~
tive man or ! refer TO Mrs.
Archibald Little, who has written sew
eral excellent box upon China. It
was she who originated the Tian Tsu
Hui society, which advocates natural
feet for the women of China This was
started about fifteen years ago, with
branches all over the empire. 1t was
supported by the missionary women
and other foreigners, and it has dis
tr1buted tracts, picturing the evils ono
the practice. everywhere. It memorial
lied the throne, and was largely in
S~truInental in getting the empress
dowager to send out the big foot edict.
Among pictures made by this So
eioty was the photograph of Il bound
foot by the x-ray process. This shows
how horribly the foot is deformed'
the bones being crushed ont nf shape
Small Feet VS.. Tight Waists.
I have talked with many Chinese
about the natural foot woman. the
best of them d~eprecate the custom OF
foot binding, and all say that It Is
bound to go. At the same time they
get eve with me by denouncing III"
practice Of lacing, SO common among
the women Of the United States, say
ing that it is worse to more the
vital organs han the feet. They cen
C{Ior the ~ a II N-ojSt ,1O1v rather ttIu