There are different opinions about the origin of foot binding. Some say it began in the Sui Dynasty, some say it began in the Tang Dynasty, and some say it began in the Five Dynasties. Some people even say that Yu's wife and da ji in Xia and Shang Dynasties were both small feet. It can be said that there are different opinions and no one can agree.

China ancient myths and legends do have such traces. Legend has it that Dayu married Tu Shanshi's daughter and gave birth to a child when he was in charge of water control. Tu Shan barren woman is a fox spirit with small feet; He also said that da ji, the concubine of the late Yin Dynasty, was also a fox, or a pheasant, but her feet didn't get better, so she wrapped them in cloth. Because of da ji's love, all the women in the palace followed her example and held back. Of course, these are just folk myths and legends, and more of them contain additional romantic elements, which is not enough to prove that women bound their feet at that time.

Foot-binding began in Sui Dynasty and also originated from folklore. According to legend, when Yang Di went to Jiangdu, he recruited hundreds of beautiful women to pull fibers for him. A woman named Wu Yueniang was chosen. She hated Yang-ti's tyranny, so she asked her father, who was a blacksmith, to make a lotus petal knife three inches long and one inch wide, and wrap it under her feet with a long cloth, and at the same time, the smaller the foot, the better. Then carved a lotus on the sole, and printed a beautiful lotus in one step when walking. Emperor Yang Di was very happy when he saw the queen, so he called her to his side to admire her little feet. Wu Yueniang slowly untied the foot cloth, suddenly pulled out a lotus petal knife and stabbed Yang Di. Emperor Yang Di flashed by quickly, but his arm was stabbed. Wu Yueniang saw that the assassination failed, so he threw himself into the river. Later, Emperor Yang Di issued a decree: No matter how beautiful a woman is, "foot-binding women will not be selected" in future beauty contests. However, in order to commemorate the mother of the moon, folk women have bound their feet. At this point, the wind of women's foot binding has intensified.

Foot-binding began in the Five Dynasties and originated from concubines in Li Houzhu in the Southern Tang Dynasty. She is beautiful and versatile. She is good at singing and dancing. Li Houzhu specially made a six-foot-tall golden lotus, decorated with jewels and ribbons, and ordered her to tie her feet with silk to make them slightly bend into crescent shapes. Then she put on plain socks and danced on the lotus stage to make the dance more beautiful.

Foot-binding has been recorded in the Song Dynasty.

However, some scholars have pointed out through research that foot-binding of ancient women in China rose in the Northern Song Dynasty, and women in China did not do it before the Five Dynasties. Su Dongpo, a poet in the Song Dynasty, once wrote the word "Bodhisattva Man" and lamented foot binding. "Don't cherish step by step lotus, worry about wearing socks to Ling Bo; I saw the dance in the air without a trace. Stealing the palace is as stable as Mount Tai, and it is a double drop; It should be hard to say that it is wonderful. It must be seen from the palm of your hand. " It can also be called the first poem dedicated to foot binding in the history of China's poetry. It should be noted that the writing of foot-binding poems depends on the appearance of foot-binding customs, which shows that foot-binding customs did appear in the Song Dynasty. In the Southern Song Dynasty, women's foot-binding became more common. Even at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, "little feet" had become a general term for women. However, in the Southern Song Dynasty, women's foot-binding was not popular, and it was mainly confined to the upper class, and the social concept of foot-binding was not accepted by everyone. At the same time, the custom of foot-binding spread from the north to the south, about the time when the Song Dynasty moved south.

Foot-binding in Song Dynasty is different from the three-inch golden lotus in later generations. According to historical records, foot binding in the Song Dynasty was to "straighten" your feet without bending, which was called "getting on the horse" at that time. The shoes used are called "Wrong in the End", and the soles are very sharp and consist of two colors. At present, this kind of foot-binding shoes has been found in archaeology. From the archaeological findings, it is speculated that the feet wrapped by these shoes are bigger than those later.

Mongolian aristocrats did not bind their feet after they entered the Central Plains for Jianyuan, but they did not object to the habit of binding their feet by the Han people. On the contrary, they still hold an appreciation attitude. In this way, the wind of foot-binding continued to develop in the Yuan Dynasty, and even the concept of not being ashamed of foot-binding appeared at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. In the Yuan Dynasty, women's foot-binding continued to develop in a slender direction, but there were still many people who did not, especially in southern Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Lingnan areas. In the Ming dynasty, the wind of women's foot-binding entered a prosperous period and developed rapidly in various places. When Zhang invaded Sichuan in the late Ming Dynasty, women were small and piled up into mountains, which were called Jinlianfeng. This shows that Sichuan women's foot binding is flourishing. This period has certain requirements for the shape of foot binding. Women's feet should not only be small, but also shrink to three inches, and they should be bowed and wrapped in the shape of corn.

After the Manchu rulers entered the Central Plains, they strongly opposed the custom of foot-binding of Han people at first, and repeatedly ordered women to ban foot-binding. But at this time, the wind of foot-binding was hard to stop, and it had to be banned in the seventh year of Kangxi (1668). This incident was once rendered as "men refusing women"-the Qing soldiers entered the customs and had a "haircut order". Under the pressure of force, Han Chinese men finally had to give in, so men's haircuts were regarded as a symbol of surrender to the Qing court. At the same time, although women's foot-binding was ordered by the Qing court to stop, it did not achieve the purpose of prohibition, so there is a saying that "men drop women." This shows that the wind of foot binding is deeply rooted. Because of this, women's foot-binding reached its peak in the Qing Dynasty, and women from all walks of life, rich and poor, bound their feet one after another. Even some ethnic minorities in the northwest and southwest are infected with the custom of foot binding. At the same time, women's feet have received unprecedented worship and attention. During this period, the shape and size of feet became an important criterion to judge the beauty and ugliness of women. As a woman, whether or not to bind her feet and how to bind her feet will directly affect her personal lifelong events. At that time, people from all walks of life were ashamed of women's big feet and proud of women's small feet when they got married. The theory of "three-inch golden lotus" is deeply rooted in people's hearts, and even it is less than three inches. As a result, a woman who had to be held by others because her feet were too small to move appeared. Such a woman was quite popular at that time.

Why are feet called "golden lotus"

Speaking of "three-inch golden lotus", people can't help asking why women's little feet are called "golden lotus" and how is "golden lotus" associated with little feet? For a long time, people have been interested in this question, but there has been no satisfactory answer.

There is a saying that "Jin Ping Mei" is named after the story that Pan Fei, who was in a daze in the eastern part of Qi State in the Southern Dynasties, opened lotus flowers step by step. Dong Hunhou cut it into the shape of a lotus with gold foil, spread it on the ground, and let Pan Fei walk barefoot on it, thus forming a wonderful scene of "Lotus Walking Step by Step". But the "golden lotus" here does not refer to Pan Fei's feet. There is also a saying that Jin Ping Mei is named after the story of five generations of mothers dancing on the lotus platform. But the golden lotus here refers to the shape of the stage, not Niang's feet.

In this regard, some scholars believe that Jiao Jiao is called Jinlian, which should be investigated from the aspect of lotus in Buddhist culture. Lotus emerges from the mud without being stained, which is regarded as a symbol of purity in Buddhism. After Buddhism was introduced into China, the lotus flower, as a symbol of beauty, purity, preciousness and auspiciousness, was also introduced into China and accepted by China people. In the auspicious words and patterns of China people, the lotus occupies a considerable position, which also illustrates this point. Therefore, there is no doubt that it is a good name to call women's football lotus. In addition, in Buddhist art, bodhisattvas mostly stand barefoot on the lotus, which may also be an important reason for linking the lotus with women's feet. Why do you want to add a word "gold" before "lotus"? This is because of the traditional language habits of China people. China people like to decorate precious or beautiful things with "gold", such as "golden mouth", "golden eye" and "golden hall". In the era of foot-binding, adding the word "gold" beside the word "lotus" became "golden lotus", which is also a kind of laudatory name to express preciousness. Therefore, later football fans often subdivide the noble, the cheap, the beautiful and the ugly according to their size. The golden lotus is within three inches, the silver lotus is within four inches, and the iron lotus is above four inches. So when it comes to the golden lotus, it must be a three-inch golden tongue, which is the so-called three-inch golden lotus. Later, Jinlian was also used to refer to foot-binding shoes, and Jinlian became synonymous with feet.

Other articles:

1. The beginning of foot binding

Women's foot-binding is a bad habit that destroys women's physical and mental health in the late feudal society of China. Scholars in Ming and Qing dynasties have a lot of textual research on its origin, and there are different opinions. Generally speaking, it began in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. But judging from the popularity of foot binding in Song Dynasty, it is more credible that it began in the Five Dynasties. The article "Foot-binding" in Volume 10 of Yuan Rentao's Record of Dropping out of Farming in the South Village says: "Li Houzhu ladies in the Southern Tang Dynasty are graceful and good at dancing. The late master made a six-foot-high golden lotus and decorated it with precious ribbons and tassels. Lotus works in the middle of the lotus let mother wrap silk around her feet, making it slender and crescent-shaped, dancing in the clouds in plain socks, dancing like a cloud. Tang Gao's poem says,' The lotus is better, and the clouds and the dark moon are always new', because it was made by my mother. Because everyone is effective, it is better to use a fiber bow. In this way, I know that this has been done for five generations. "

In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhang Bangji's "Mo Zhuang Man Lu" also said "the rise of modern times" when describing foot binding. Foot-binding was only popular in the court in the Five Dynasties, and it was more common among aristocratic women in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty. "The Record of Dropping out of Farming in Nancun" said: "Before Xining Yuanfeng, there were few people who were good, but in recent years, they have all achieved results and are not ashamed." There is a sentence in Cai Jiafu by Ji Xu in the Northern Song Dynasty: "I know four branches, but I don't know how to bind feet"; Lu Fangweng's Notes on the Old School Temple said: "In the last years of Xuanhe, women's soles were two colors, and their names were incorrect." Su Shi's poem "Bodhisattva Man" said: "Painting incense does not hesitate to lotus, but to worry about socks; I saw the dance in the air without a trace. Stealing the palace, as steady as Mount Tai, is difficult to say. It must be seen from the palm of your hand. " It can be seen that in the Song Dynasty, it was beautiful to have small feet. Since then, foot-binding has become increasingly popular. Even ordinary women will be pressured by public opinion if they don't bind their feet, and even marriage has become a problem.

2. Reasons for advocating foot binding

Foot-binding is an act that destroys the normal development of limbs. A woman who binds her feet should bind her feet from an early age and slowly bend the bones of her feet to deform them. A pair of small feet after foot binding not only have various inconveniences in real life, but also women have to bear great disability and pain in the whole process of foot binding. Why does this kind of thing, which has no practical effect and makes the victims extremely painful, become popular and become a social custom for hundreds of years?

There are four reasons:

First, it is conducive to imprisoning women in boudoir and strictly restricting their activities to conform to the ethical code of "three obedience and four virtues", so as to achieve the purpose of monopolizing male chastity as desired. Yi Shizhen's "Langya Ji" in the Yuan Dynasty said: "It is said that a saint has a daughter, so it is not easy for him. Because of his foot-binding, he used to live in a boudoir. If he wants to go out, he has a car, so he has nothing to do." Another example is the Daughter's Sutra, which says, "Why are you wrapped up? Not because it looks like a bow; I am afraid that she will walk out of the house lightly and be bound by countless ties. "

The second is to cause changes in women's own posture and sexual physiology, so as to better bear the reproductive tools that extend their offspring. Because the shape of the foot becomes deformed after foot binding, when the foot touches the ground, the weight of the whole body is concentrated on the heel. That is to say, women walk with their heels after foot binding. So every time they walk, they will affect their waist and buttocks. In the long run, women's waist and buttocks will develop and affect the pelvis, thus affecting women's sexuality and fertility.

Third, the morbid aesthetics of feudal literati made it so. There were also records of foot-binding before the Five Dynasties, such as "tiptoeing under one's feet and making small steps". But it probably means wrapping your feet a little smaller, walking lightly and dancing gracefully, wrapping your bones to the letter and bending your feet into an arch. Many feudal literati regarded women as playthings, and they had morbid aesthetics, and enjoying their feet became a hobby. Scholars in Ming and Qing dynasties have many rich words about feet, such as "thin desire is invisible, the more you look at it, the more you pity it" and "soft without bones, the more you are close, the more you are resistant to touch"; "The first baby, golden lotus is the best. Look at the phoenix head, Hsinchu is petal-shedding, buds are sprouting on the moon, and sharp and thin flowers are blooming. "

What's even worse is drinking with prostitutes' shoes, which existed in the Yuan Dynasty and prevailed in the Qing Dynasty. Fang Xuan in Qing Dynasty wrote "Looking at the Moon", which specifically talked about the strange custom of how to drink with shoes. When drinking, push a person as a buddy and ask him to take off a pair of shoes from the prostitute's feet, put a glass of wine in one shoe and put the other shoe on a plate. The clerk took the plate and walked one and a half inches away from the drinker. The drinker pinched lotus seeds, red beans or hazelnuts with his thumb, forefinger and little finger and threw them at the shoes on the plate five times. According to the number of shots, they will be fined. There is also a prostitute's shoe wine, that is, the little shoes are handed to the table. From the first day to the second day of the third day, the posture of holding the little shoes should be changed at any time according to the regulations, or the mouth is down, or the bottom is down, or the toe of the shoes is held, or the shoes are lifted horizontally, or held high ... If there is any strewn at random, the glass is put in the shoes to drink, and there is a song dedicated to this prostitute's shoe wine:

Two days are silent, and the third day is like a new moon.

Turn the bottom to the eighth day of the eighth day, and raise a glass when you see the sun.

According to the first day, lift the shoe cup 23 or 30 times.

Do it when the report is not good, and the punishment is uneven and horizontal.

Fang Xuan also wrote a poem "Lotus Picking Boat", which was dedicated to the shoes and wine of prostitutes. At the beginning, she said, "It's a beautiful spring and autumn, and the moon is bright and the night is good. There is a master dragging a skirt to show to the guests. The banquet is set and the embroidered curtain is low; Green ants are frequent, and red skirts sit in the corner. Embarrassment staggered, flying fragrance. "

In other words, prostitutes drink to smell the fragrance. This morbid appreciation has undoubtedly contributed to the popularity of foot-binding habits. This "love for lotus" and "love for feet" continued until the twentieth century. Mr. Zhou Zuoren wrote the article "Worship Foot and Handling Business" in 1925, quoting two newspaper excerpts. One is a short article "Crazy Feet" in Beijing Morning Post:

I have a fellow countryman who has lived in Beijing for a long time, extending in all directions, with a broad gas field and a higher education. It seems that he must be a man with new ideas. Don't want to surprise me! One day, I was walking with this fellow countryman and met three or four female classmates on the way. They are very beautiful. He saw them and said, "These are great! Especially the pink one, full of eyes and frowning, is really a virgin ... alas, it's a pity that she has two big feet! "

Once he said to me, "You don't know that I met another beautiful woman. She is really petite and lovely! I saw her pair of golden lotus, no matter how small. It's really charming to chop it up and sway it when you leave! I watched it for a while and wanted to hug her and kiss her, but she went north. " Hearing this, I couldn't help laughing and feeling sick. This is probably beriberi. Gentlemen, our friends are not the only ones who are crazy about feet.

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