The famous scholar Su Shi of the Song Dynasty has been praised for his superb literary achievements, and most of his poems are magnificent and passionate, but Su Shi's pen has also written about women, one of which is very special, describing women's feet. This poem is called "Bodhisattva Man YongZu", and the poem reads: "Stealing through the palace is stable, and standing in a double trap." It should be difficult to say that it should be difficult, and it must be seen from the palm of the hand. The so-called "wing foot" is actually a song of women's small feet after wrapping their feet. Foot binding is not only linked to the woman's three from four virtues, but also to a certain extent to determine the fate of women, there was a small foot lady in the Republic of China period, because the foot binding divorced her husband, and then married into a large household.
This woman is the original wife of the famous scholar Liang Zongdai, He Shi, who should be regarded as the biggest victim of foot binding, in addition to the physical pain, her heart was also seriously injured by foot binding. After marrying Liang Zongdai, He Shi did not receive a trace of love from her husband, not only that, Liang Zongdai was too lazy to look at her with a straight eye, and simply chose to separate. So what is he disgusting, in fact, what he hates is his wife's small feet that represent the old feudal culture.
According to Gao Hongxing's "History of Foot Binding", the custom of foot binding in China began to prevail from the Song Dynasty, began in the Northern Song Dynasty, and flourished in the Southern Song Dynasty. During the Yuan Dynasty, the requirements for foot binding were more stringent, not only to be wrapped but also slender. The saying of "three inches of golden lotus" that we are familiar with is from the Ming Dynasty, when a woman's feet cannot be larger than three inches, and the back of the foot is curved.
What is the concept of a three-inch foot? One inch is now 2.54 centimeters, according to the Ming Dynasty, within three inches is about 8 centimeters, only not much larger than a baby's foot. Therefore, most of the women's foot binding is carried out at the age of three or four, and when they are six or seven years old, they have taken initial shape, and after years of entanglement, the entire foot will show a triangular deformity, followed by a lifetime of pain.
At first, the popularity of foot binding was because the men at that time were beautiful with small feet, walking with a light posture, walking with lotus, coupled with the praise of literati and inkers like Su Shi, which soon caused imitation. Later, in order to promote the custom of foot binding, it was branded with moral bondage, advocating that women's foot binding is because of respect for their husbands, which is also a kind of self-respect. After foot binding, women even have difficulty walking, not to mention running and jumping, so they can only stay at home and obey the requirements of their husbands.
By the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic, many progressive literati began to criticize the bad practice of foot binding, believing that foot binding not only seriously damaged women's health, but also was a constraint on their spiritual freedom. Gradually, some women who embraced advanced ideas began to resist foot binding and fight for women's freedom and rights.
But although the call to resist foot binding has sounded, many women who have wrapped their feet before this time are still suffering from foot binding. For example, Hu Shi's wife Jiang Dongxiu, is also a small foot lady, Hu Shi as a cultural youth receiving a new style of education, naturally look down on her small feet, but fortunately Jiang Dongxiu and Hu Shi have known each other for many years, and have been loving since marriage, and under the influence of Hu Shi, she has become the first group of women to put their feet on foot.
The aforementioned He Shi, who was snubbed by her husband, eventually divorced her husband and remarried to a large family. Ironically, the family didn't like her because of anything else, but precisely because of her little feet. But the shadow left by the previous marriage was too great, and even if she passed on to a husband who loved small feet, she felt inferior to these feet. For 90 years, she did not let her children and grandchildren wash her feet, except for her husband, no one had seen her feet, and every time she washed her feet, she hurt to the point of collapse.
Living in today's open era is undoubtedly everyone's luck, not only free from the pain of experiencing foot binding, but more importantly, our society tolerates a pluralistic culture, giving everyone a broader space for development.