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In the feudal period, in order to bind the minds of the common people, there were many physical "bondage", the most typical of which was "foot binding".
Although foot wrapping has been supported and beautified by many people, it is actually only to limit women's ability to move, and it is a backward idea that needs to be eliminated.
But who knew that after the foot-binding reform, women were once again restricted, and their breasts were bound.
To this end, a mighty "Tianniu Movement" was set off during the Republic of China, which liberated women's breasts in all aspects.
So what kind of twists and turns did the Tianyu movement experience at that time?
The departure of the foot wrap and the arrival of the chest binding
Foot wrapping is one of the ugliest vices in mainland history, and the exact time of its appearance is unknown, but most people recognize that it appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty and reached its peak during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
At that time, foot binding was not only sought after by most people, but even represented the identity and status of women to a certain extent, and girls in ordinary families did not bind their feet.
Foot wrapping is very harmful to women's bodies.
Because foot wrapping is not to use gentle means to restrict the growth of women's feet, but to use violent means to directly strangle the soles of women's feet, so that the feet show a deformed state, and then wrap them only with cloth strips, so that they cannot continue to grow.
Women who wrap their feet not only have to endure pain for a long time, but also have the inability to stand for a long time and run.
It is equivalent to installing a shackle on women's steps, making it very difficult for them to leave their rooms every time, and this is also a true portrayal of women's social status inferior to men's in the feudal period.
After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, Dr. Sun Yat-sen officially ordered the prohibition of foot binding in the form of official documents.
But at that time, the remnants of feudalism and feudal ideology were deeply rooted and could not be changed in a short period of time, even during the May Fourth Movement, foot binding was constantly criticized, only women in big cities were liberated, and foot binding still existed in a few rural areas.
This is why the elderly in many families still have foot binding.
The abolition of foot binding means that women's social status began to gradually rise, and at the same time, it also had a very important impact on the emancipation of women's minds.
But no one expected that just when the foot binding had just left, another thing that bound women appeared, that is, chest binding.
Unlike the corsetments used by modern women in order to replace underwear, the corset of breasts during the Republic of China can completely cover the traces of a woman's chest.
For some girls with larger breasts, chest binding is more like torture, many girls because the chest is too tight, lose their fertility, not to mention, but also strangled lung disease, can only spend their whole lives in bed.
Chest binding has a very long history in the mainland, but in ancient society, chest binding is not so tight, and its role is similar to modern underwear, and the harm to women's bodies is not great.
But in the Republican period, the chest binding gradually changed its taste, and the chest binding originally intended to facilitate women became the most feared thing for women.
At that time, when women's clothing was being improved, the custom of trying to cover up the curves of the body was prevalent, and in order to continue to maintain a flat body shape, the style of women's chest binding became more prominent.
Because the binding force of the chest binding force during the Republic of China was very terrible, the standard chest binding can almost make women's upper body characteristics the same as that of men.
The existence of this bad habit is to bind women's minds by binding their bodies, making them regard themselves as their husband's private property.
Women's beauty can only be appreciated by their husbands, and other men are not even qualified to see the curves of women's bodies.
So when did the chest binding begin to be lifted, which is to talk about the vigorous Tianni movement during the Republic of China.
Free women's breasts and minds
For women in the Republic of China, 1924 is a memorable day.
Without warning, the Guangzhou Nationalist Government suddenly issued an order requiring all women in Guangzhou Province not to use corsets from now on, with a three-month adjustment period, and a fine of 50 oceans as soon as they were found after the adjustment period.
This order caused a sensation at the time, although in the TV series, those rich people bought things hundreds of oceans, but in fact, 50 oceans at that time was definitely not a small amount of money.
At that time, the monthly income of most people was about 10 oceans, and even wealthy families would be distressed for a long time to take out 50 oceans at one time, which shows that the Guangzhou government is really promoting this order.
It should be noted that the fine is not a one-time fine, but a fine of 50 oceans will be imposed every time it is found, for example, a woman still wears a corset after being fined, and a fine will be imposed on the second discovery.
The reason for this decision is mainly due to two aspects.
The first aspect is to promote it in the form of fines, which can prevent many people from rebelling in the name of tradition.
In response to the corset itself, the Guangzhou government will not go online, extending the problem to the level of tradition and ideology, but only to fine, so that those who try to resist the law cannot find a breakthrough.
On the other hand, it is because the Guangzhou government has found that women generally resist corsets, but only family factors or elder factors will wear corsets.
This means that if you want to change this situation, you must start from the perspective of men, and what men value most is undoubtedly power and money, since they cannot change the status quo in a tough way, they can only start with money.
It turns out that the Guangzhou government's approach is very correct.
At that time, there was a girl named Wei Qingfen, who was required by her family to wear a corset since she was a child, because in that era, most women were "women of the old society" who were brainwashed by three from four virtues.
They not only think that it is natural for men to be inferior to women, but also think that women's liberation is actually "not keeping the way of women", so Wei Qingfen is powerless to resist even if he does not like to bind his chest.
After marriage, he also wore corsets because of the traditional family of his husband.
It was not until the order of the Guangzhou government was issued that Wei Qingfen tried to resist, hoping to no longer wear a corset, but this matter was rejected by her family, especially her father-in-law, who scolded her stink, and she could only continue to wear it in desperation.
But fortunately, although Wei Qingfen could not resist, she was reported by her neighbors.
When the staff came to the door, her father-in-law said very proudly: "This is a rule handed down by the ancestors, it cannot be changed, the big deal is a fine", and paid the fine very boldly.
But who knew that the next day, the staff came to the door again to collect the fine, which made her father-in-law change his mind and allow her not to wear a corset from then on.
The action to lift the chest restraint received a satisfactory answer in Guangzhou, so all parts of the country began to follow suit.
For a time, almost all women got rid of the chest binding, and everyone affectionately called this exercise "Tianyu Exercise".
The "Tianyu Movement" is on track
Although the Tianyu movement was successful, it also experienced many twists and turns, not only men, but even many women opposed it.
During this period, a number of academics and brave women played a big role.
For example, Mr. Zhang Jingsheng clearly proposed in the magazine "New Youth" that chest binding will not only seriously affect women's health, but also make women inferior, and women should show their beauty generously.
And Mr. Hu Shih, who we are very familiar with, also clearly expressed support for women to take off their corsets.
"New Culture" magazine also published this text: "The development of women's breasts is a natural growth phenomenon, which reflects the femininity of women, not a shameful thing." What's more, a normally developed chest is conducive to breastfeeding and can better conceive the next generation."
Their speeches gave a good impetus to the movement.
Among the female group, more than 200,000 women have taken off their corsets and walked on the streets wearing loose and comfortable clothes, creating momentum for this movement, which shows that the Tianyu movement has won a large number of women's hearts.
However, at the same time, there are also some "out of line" moves.
Some women in special industries are very supportive of lifting the chest restraint, and in order to fully implement the campaign, they have adopted a more explicit way of "naked propaganda".
For example, Jin Yayu, a famous prostitute at the time, shouted naked on the street: "Refuse to bind breasts, Chinese women are free", which led to some bad customs at that time.
Therefore, the relevant departments soon issued some regulations, so that the Tianyu movement entered a reasonable range.
For example, after the start of the Tianyu Movement, the movie star Ruan Lingyu of the Republic of China became a forerunner.
She was the first person in the Republic of China to completely abandon her chest binding and appear in public wearing Western-style women's underwear, and her behavior set an example for more women.
The Tianyu movement has a very important place in history, but it also has two sides in nature.
First of all, the Tianyu Movement has made important contributions to the emancipation of women's minds and the social equality of men and women.
In the feudal period and even in the Republican period, women's social status was still very low, which could be directly linked to property, and relevant laws to protect women were also very rare.
Especially in the chaotic Republic of China, women's society is outrageously low, and many women hope to cross over to the Republic of China and become warlord wives after watching some TV series, but in the real Republic of China, warlord wives are high-risk professions, because no one cares about her life or death.
Due to years of war, the legal binding force during the Republic of China was extremely poor, and any murder case could be shelved if the murderer could not be caught, and the implementation of any law had to take into account the status of the murderer.
Simply put, if a man is very large, has a high status, or has a military background, he can insult civilian women at will without worrying about legal sanctions.
This is the true portrayal of the social status of women at that time.
Taking off the corset is not so much to make women's bodies healthier, but to completely liberate the shackles of women's minds, and from now on they can wear clothes freely like men, without covering their bodies.
When a country women dress freely, it can show that the country's laws are extremely protective of women, just like our neighbor India, if a woman dresses sexy and is insulted, women also have to bear certain responsibilities.
However, everything has two sides, and in the Tianyu movement, there is a concept that is frequently proposed, that is, women's breastfeeding health.
For example, in the "Republic of China Daily", it was proposed that the purpose of chest binding was to "cultivate stronger offspring".
It can be seen here that many people support the Tianyu movement more considering women's breastfeeding ability, simply put, they still regard women as tools for reproduction, rather than as an independent individual.
Therefore, the Tianyu movement can only be regarded as a catalyst for women's ideological emancipation, because the Tianyu movement mainly focuses on women's "functions".
But fortunately, after experiencing the abolition of foot binding and chest binding, mainland women's minds began to awaken completely.
The main manifestation is that young women are beginning to have new goals, they no longer think that some jobs can only be done by men and women cannot be done, and women can do some relatively dangerous jobs in addition to catering to men.
This is also the reason why a large number of women joined the army during the Sino-Japanese War, and many of them even held high positions.
epilogue
Today, although many women in the mainland are still influenced by traditional ideas and dare not show their beauty generously, and even some families will educate their children, and large breasts are "ugly" performance, but in the Internet era, women have their own three views and the power to choose, and the liberation of ideas can completely get rid of external constraints.
Perhaps, this is what the pioneers of the feminist movement have been looking forward to