Людмила Белоусова
Время такое- потреблять больше чем необходимо. Не все руководствуютя принципом разумной достаточности. Отрадно, что понимаете вы это.
Though very rare but it is still possible to meet them – very old women with extremely small feet. They walk slightly staggering, depending on a stick or rather two, stopping to have a short rest quite often. With every passing day, the number of such elderly women with small feet grows less and less. Very soon 90-100 years old women with small feet will become history, so with the millennial tradition of binding feet, unique to China.
As legend has it, the first person to bind her feet for getting half-moon shape of them was Yao Niang, beloved wife of the Emperor Li Yu of the Tang Dynasty (618–907). Li Yu ordered to build a stage in the shape of a lotus flower for Yao Niang. She was dancing on the stage with her feet bound. It became fashionable and soon ladies of the court followed suit.
Some historians doubt this version affirming that practice of binding feet have appeared for the first time during the Song Dynasty (960–1279). For my opinion, timing in this case is not that important: feet have been bound for thousands of years.
The tradition was started by ladies of noble and rich families and then it spread all over the country. Soon it became not just a fashionable trend but cruel necessity and indispensable attribute for every beautiful girl. Small feet have become the most intimate and sexually attractive part of the woman’s body, symbol of feminity. A girl with properly bound feet had the best chances for good marriage. Even a prostitute with small feet attracted wealthier clients.
Classical phrase of seven characters describes the ideal woman’s foot: “slim, small, sharp, curved, fragrant, soft, and symmetric”. Such foot was named “golden lotus” (jinlan), the ideal “lotus” was that of 10 cm length. In medieval China rich men drank their wine from glasses shaped as a woman’s shoe, therefore named “the golden lotus glass”, jinlan bei.
Many researchers think, however, that the main reason for binding feet was not pursuit of beauty but much more prosaic reason – men’s will to retain a woman at home and to limit her communication with the outside world. If this is the case, men proved to be right: it is not easy to move on such feet indeed. Most likely this tradition was introduced by Confucians who believed that the best place for a woman is her house and the only destination is to give birth. This had nothing to do with feet length. But extramarital affair was next to impossible to start.
A woman with small feet was considered very erotic. The Chinese thought that step of such a woman was extremely tempting as she had to balance rhythmically swinging her hips. Such walk inevitably caused pelvis anomalies (constriction and permanent exertion of muscular system) which in turn were very handy for men looking for sexual pleasures.
So, how did women get their “golden lotuses”? When a girl was 4 years old, four fingers of her feet were bent under and tied firmly to the foot. The bandages had to be changed from time to time, and her feet stopped growing. For getting the ideal “golden lotus”, it was important to start binding at this age. Starting earlier – a girl might not survive pain and could stop walking at all; starting later – a foot was practically already formed and binding would not be effective. It was in this tender age the Chinese girls got to know that beauty demanded sacrifices and in some cases even physical sufferings. Only 4-5 years later sharp painful feeling blunted. But bear in mind: feet’s binding was a life-long business. And during all their lives women felt even if dull but aches which disappeared only for short minutes when bandages have been removed for washing and nails clipping. Then – hobbled again.
Binding deprived women of some popular pleasures, they stopped dancing. Since the Song Dynasty there were many famous singers and musicians among Chinese beauties and courtesans but no dancers.
Movements for liberation of women in every country have their own national specifics. In China it was the wide movement against binding feet launched during decline of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) and widely developed during the first years of the Republic. By the way, Manchurians ruling in China under the name of the Qing Dynasty didn’t bind their girls, so it was easy to tell Manchu and Hans females – just casting a glance at their feet.
But the tradition of binding feet was dying out hard. It was wide spread in the countryside even in the first years after the New China was proclaimed in 1949. It is still possible to meet old ladies with the “golden lotuses” just slightly over 70 years old in villages.
It was not just the “golden lotuses” to define a feminine beauty. A slim girl possessing long fingers and soft palms, fine brows and small rosebud mouth – it is a portrait of the classical Chinese beauty. Ladies from noble families shaved off hairs on their forehead to visually lengthen face oval and tried to get an ideal lips contour by applying a lipstick roundly.
Hairs have been arranged in complicated wavy coiffure with the help of pins. Experts compared such hair-styles to noble flowers or to “the dragon frolicking in the clouds”. For best looks, noble women covered their faces with rice powder, cheeks with rouge and lips with a “ripe cherry” colored lipstick.
Some other adornments widely used nowadays were also very popular – earrings, decorative pins and combs, rings and bracelets. Chinese beauties used floral water and fragrant soap and spent plenty of time sitting besides censers imbuing their clothes with aroma of incenses.
The face of a woman should always be dispassionate and movements reserved and smooth, at least it was what etiquette demanded. To expose teeth when laughing was a sign of bad breeding. Echo of this belief can be easily seen in today’s China as many local girls cover their mouth with a hand when laughing.
The Chinese are great philosophers, believing in deep connection between a body and a soul. A beautiful woman was not simply the one possessing “the golden lotuses” but the one able to keep up the conversation on painting and poetry. The Chinese believed (and still do) that one of the most important merits of every woman was her charm which has been described as the magic power of beauty hidden under cover of obedience.
The writer Li Yu believed that the secret of female charms is “in making old looking younger, ugly – more beautiful, usual – really amazing”. Every woman’s ability to be charming and fascinating “emanated from Heaven”; it can be understood only by intuition and can not be inherited. This elusive and fine substance doesn’t disappear after a number of years and a charming woman always remains beautiful.
In multinational China, concepts of beauty are different for different ethnic groups. In the 17th century, Manchu males, founders of the Qing Dynasty, were captured by beauty of Han women and for the next two centuries married and took as concubines mostly Hans. It was only in the second half of the 19th century when one Manchu woman amazed the Emperor Xianfeng with her unusual beauty.
Oval face, tall stature and loud voice of Ci Xi were in sharp contrast with other concubines of the Emperor’s harem. Making her way from a concubine to the Empress this “Little Orchid” (the name she was given at birth) ruled the huge country for many years. The richest monarchs of the world envied splendor of her court. For long years, the Empress managed to stay young-looking and attractive.
Foreigners visit Tibet for the first time have been astonished seeing beautiful local women – dark-complexioned with kingly bearing, long black hairs tied by black and red threads. But aroma-sensitive European men could hardly withstand specific “aroma” of rank melted butter which was usual smell for females living in this Roof of the World. Well, beauty is important but don’t forget the climate! Unfavorable natural conditions have inevitably affected methods used by the Tibetan women to keep their appearance. Because of rarefied air, permanent winds, burning sun and unavoidable dryness, the women grease themselves so as to prevent weather skin and burns. They oil their faces with butter and then sprinkled with earth.
Girls of the Li minority living on the subtropical Hainan Island from of old cover their bodies with tattoos. Ancient legend tells that once a chieftain abused a beautiful girl and since then all females of the tribe tattooed their body, neck and legs making themselves look ugly and thus escaping the same fate. Nowadays it is very likely Li girls would be regarded as very stylish and beautiful in London or New York, don’t you think?
After 1949, women Communists refused everything feminine, trading dresses for Mao Zedong trouser suits, splendid coiffures for short practical haircuts and throwing away all bourgeois doings such as powder, rouge and lipsticks. At that time women first of all became the Communism-constructors, everything else was secondary.
Reforms and opening-up policy declared by Deng Xiaoping in 1978 affected women’s faces. Cosmetic business nowadays is one of the most flourishing industries with mushrooming beauty shops. Plastic surgery is in vogue, the most popular operation is double-lead eye, nose enhancement, breasts enlargement, wrinkles reduction and liposuction. The biggest group of plastic surgeons’ clients aged 20-40 but media have reported about 60+ clients. Most parents support their daughters’ desires believing that good looks increase chances for employment and marrying a well-to-do husband. Chinese women have proved that it is possible to build Communism and stay feminine at the same time. Well-done, ladies!
Book “Chinese Customs and Wisdoms” (translated into English by the author) was published in Beijing in 2007 by the Foreign Language Press
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