CHINESE WOMEN'S FEET

by Scientific American December 18th, 2023

Too Long; Didn't Read

An American missionary, Miss Norwood, of Swatow, recently described in a Times paragraph how the size of the foot is reduced in Chinese women. The binding of the feet is not begun till the child has learnt to walk. The bandages are specially manufactured, and are about two inches wide and two yards long for the first year, five yards long for subsequent years. The end of the strip is laid on the inside of the foot at the instep, then carried over the toes, under the foot, and round the heel, the toes being thus drawn toward and over the sole, while a bulge is produced on the instep, and a deep indentation in the sole. Successive layers of bandages are used till the strip is all used, and the end is then sewn tightly down. The foot is so squeezed upward that, in walking, only the ball of the great toe touches the ground. After a month the foot is put in hot water to soak some time; then the bandage is carefully unwound, much dead cuticle coming off with it. Frequently, too, one or two toes may even drop off, in which case the woman feels afterward repaid by having smaller and more delicate feet. Each time the bandage is taken off, the foot is kneaded to make the joints more flexible, and is then bound up again as quickly as possible with a fresh bandage, which is drawn up more tightly. During the first year the pain is so intense that the sufferer can do nothing, and for about two years the foot aches continually, and is the seat of a pain which is like the pricking of sharp needles. With continued rigorous binding the foot in two years becomes dead and ceases to ache, and the whole leg, from the knee downward, becomes shrunk, so as to be little more than skin and bone. When once formed, the "golden lily," as the Chinese lady calls her delicate little foot, can never recover its original shape.

Scientific American, Volume XLIII., No. 25, December 18, 1880, by Various, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here. CHINESE WOMEN'S FEET.

CHINESE WOMEN'S FEET.

An American missionary, Miss Norwood, of Swatow, recently described in a Times paragraph how the size of the foot is reduced in Chinese women. The binding of the feet is not begun till the child has learnt to walk. The bandages are specially manufactured, and are about two inches wide and two yards long for the first year, five yards long for subsequent years. The end of the strip is laid on the inside of the foot at the instep, then carried over the toes, under the foot, and round the heel, the toes being thus drawn toward and over the sole, while a bulge is produced on the instep, and a deep indentation in the sole. Successive layers of bandages are used till the strip is all used, and the end is then sewn tightly down. The foot is so squeezed upward that, in walking, only the ball of the great toe touches the ground. After a month the foot is put in hot water to soak some time; then the bandage is carefully unwound, much dead cuticle coming off with it. Frequently, too, one or two toes may even drop off, in which case the woman feels afterward repaid by having smaller and more delicate feet. Each time the bandage is taken off, the foot is kneaded to make the joints more flexible, and is then bound up again as quickly as possible with a fresh bandage, which is drawn up more tightly. During the first year the pain is so intense that the sufferer can do nothing, and for about two years the foot aches continually, and is the seat of a pain which is like the pricking of sharp needles. With continued rigorous binding the foot in two years becomes dead and ceases to ache, and the whole leg, from the knee downward, becomes shrunk, so as to be little more than skin and bone. When once formed, the "golden lily," as the Chinese lady calls her delicate little foot, can never recover its original shape.

Our illustrations show the foot both bandaged and unbandaged, and are from photographs kindly forwarded by Mr. J. W. Bennington, R.N., who writes: "It is an error to suppose, as many do, that it is only the Upper Ten among the daughters of China that indulge in the luxury of 'golden lilies,' as it is extremely common among every class, even to the very poorest—notably the poor sewing women one sees in every Chinese city and town, who can barely manage to hobble from house to house seeking work. The pain endured while under the operation is so severe and continuous that the poor girls never sleep for long periods without the aid of strong narcotics, and then only but fitfully; and it is from this constant suffering that the peculiar sullen or stolid look so often seen on the woman's face is derived. The origin of this custom is involved in mystery to the Westerns. Some say that the strong-minded among the ladies wanted to interfere in politics, and that there is a general liking for visiting, chattering, and gossip (and China women can chatter and gossip), both and all of which inclinations their lords desired, and desire, to stop by crippling them."

To the alteration and metamorphism of rocks by the infiltration of rain and other meteoric waters, M. De Koninck, of the Belgian Academy of Sciences, assigns the cause of many hitherto unexplained phenomena in geology.

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