About Foot binding, "Sustainability and Change in Chinese Society"

 For women, the most painful first step in becoming an adult was when they were bound by their mothers. Foot binding is said to have originated from the court dancers of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. The dancer lightly tied her feet for artistic effect. The preference for women with Park's feet spread to court women, and they competed with martial arts by pressing their feet appropriately. It was probably during the Mongolian rule that spread to the general public. In the early Ming period, women with large and natural feet became the subject of ridicule, and by the 19th century, 50% to 80% of Chinese women had their feet tied. The women who left their feet untied were either from the poor or from minorities such as the Manchurians and Myo people, or a small group of people with a unique culture such as Hakka. There is also a regional deviation, but Foot binding was not very common in the villages of Bucheon, Fujian, and Honam, whereas in Hanam and Island, beggars and water dealers also Foot binding. Foot binding makes you limp and walk. Wrap your toes down until they bend enough to touch the soles of your toes with a cloth of approximately 5 centimeters wide and 3 meters long.Then, turn the cloth to the heel and tie it tightly so that the front and heels of the feet face each other. Tie it harder and harder until the top of your foot bends up like a bow. The pain persists and blood and pus are cut into the cloth. The flesh dries up and comes off. Sometimes one or two toes fall off. If it goes well, it is only 7.5 centimeters from the heel of the silver to the tip of the big toe. Eventually, the pain is relieved, but a woman with foot binding limps throughout her life, making it impossible to leave without anyone's help. The main reason for foot binding was sexual attraction. Men become increasingly enthusiastic when they see embroidered small shoes worn by a woman wearing footbinding, and become sexually excited when they see the limp of a woman wearing footbinding or her hips rising as she walks. Then they were delusional about caressing "Geumryeon." This is because the foot binding, like the female genitals, stimulates the desire of Chinese men. For traditional Chinese men, beautiful faces are good, but small feet are exquisite beauty. The small feet were not only objects of beauty, but also symbols of style, social status, and culture. Therefore, it was not easy for a woman without foot binding to have a good husband. There is a less well-known social interpretation of men encouraging women's foot binding. By significantly limiting the range of women's behavior through foot binding, women's virtues formalized by new Confucianism in the 12th century have been reinforced and women's isolation has been realized. Women tied to their homes do not need to receive education and do not experience the outside world. Thus, women remain ignorant and become inferior to men. In this way, Foot binding was a means to subordinate women and ensure male dominance. Lloyd Eastman Lee Seung-hwi, "Dolbege 1999 pp.45-47," who continues and changes in Chinese society, personally finds it difficult to agree with the interpretation of the last paragraph.