Footbinding
The ancient Chinese custom of footbinding has caused severe life-long suffering for the Chinese women involved. The first documented reference to footbinding was from the Southern Tang Dynasty in Nanjing. It was introduced in the 11th century and spread from the ranks of the wealthy to those of more modest means to peasantry. A main reason women did this was for the pleasure of men. Men preferred women with small feet and sexual urges weren't present for un-bound feet. Although the history of footbinding is very vague, it lasted for at least one thousand years. This painful process which folds all the toes except the big one under the sole to make the foot slender and pointed, was created just for the enjoyment and looking pleasures of men. Earlier text has said that the Han Dynasty was referred to as the people who preferred that the women have small feet. It also stated that the first documented reference to footbinding was from the Tang Dynasty in Nanjing. Before the Song Dynasty, binding was only slightly constricting, allowing some free movement. The Yuan Dynasty introduced binding into the central and southern parts of China and footbinding was most popular in the Ming Dynasty. A famous writer, Zhu Xi helped sp
There were also many physical effects from binding feet other than the breaking of your toes and forcing them under your foot. One was a groove line down the center of the back caused by tension of the back muscles. Another, caused by making the lower body of the women tense, was the skin tightening. Also the outside swelling of the abdomen was present, a forward curve of the lumbar vertebrae, and the buttocks became larger. The binding process also caused a small part of the foot to lose flesh by rotting away. This caused a putrid smell from the blood, puss and perspiration. It is said that alum was used to absorb the puss and swelling. The girls were bound at an early age to take advantage of the softness of their bones. Before beginning the actual binding process, the feet would be soaked in warm water to soften the skin. Various ingredients were added such as ground almonds, mulberry root and other herbs to help soften the skin and make for a better binding. Families would pass down these special soaking recipes from generation to generation. The bandage used was approximately two inches wide and ten feet long. The four toes (leaving out the big toe) would be forced under the foot towards the sole. The bandage would be placed against the instep and wrapped over the toes, holding them against the sole. The bandage was then wrapped back around the heel, pulling the heel and toes together. The bandages were sewn together with heavy thread so that they wouldn't unravel, and so the girl would not try to loosen them. The severe pain of bound feet lasted for about a year, but the pain did not disappear until the child's bones quit growing. The f
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1128
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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