Chinese Foot Binding

In the story, Adeline's grandmother had bound feet and it was indeed a fascinating but scary tradition. A suffering which had caused her grandmother great pain throughout her life and prohibited her from much movement without assistance from others. When I read this, I automatically thought this was definitely a tradition that could help me answer my essential question (How the traditions and customs has shaped China into what it is today). Due to my Chinese heritage, I have some prior knowledge to this aspect, since I have heard many stories of my great great grandmother's bound feet told by my grandmother, but i never actually have seen a bound feet. This interested me and encouraged me to do some research on it. The results was a terrifying nightmare and made me want to kiss my own feet because I felt so lucky i wasn't born a millennium ago.

The origins of how this practice came to be is not definite. Many believed that it started during the Tang Dynasty, where legend has it that the emperor fell in love with his concubine because she had such beautiful dainty little feet that she wrapped with silk every time she performed a "Lotus Dance". From then on, this idea of small feet was considered a sign of beauty and women from all over China were put to this torture. This process is a horrifying procedure, where girls at the age of 4-6 were put into this mandatory fate, having the foot wrapped with binding, which eventually broke the bones in their feet. Sometimes, the toenails would grow into the feet. Disgusting and painful! After about three years, the feet was officially "dead", and this procured a stench that stayed for the rest of the girl's life. All this was done in order to achieve beauty, to be eligible for marriage, and to attain social status. It was said that no man would marry a girl with "clown feet", and that bound feet helped put a graceful style in a girl's walk. In a society where men ruled, this tradition ensured that women were kept weak, out of power, obedient and dominated by her husband. The lower class citizens of China didn't have to go through this agonizing pain because they had to work in the fields all day, but some did attempt to put their daughters through this in hoping she would marry a wealthy man where she no longer have to work in life. In my opinion, I rather suffer in the scorching heat and pouring rain, than have my feet bound to live a "supposedly" luxurious life.

Below is a link of pictures of a woman who had bound feet. Some pictures are GROSS and DISTURBING! So, enter at your own risk, because I have WARNED you!

CLICK HERE

So to begin. My essential question is how does the cultures and traditions of China help shape itself to what it is today, in other words, how has the past affected the identity China possesses today? Right in the first chapter, these cultural beliefs are brought into the picture. Adeline (main character), or also referred to her family as Wu Mei (meaning 5th sister), is hated and mistreated by her family due to a superstition, that she was "bad luck", because her "Mama died giving birth" to her. According to what I know of my culture, indeed children who were born at the sacrifice of their mothers are supposedly cursed. Many of these innocent babies would be abandoned like as something despicable and left to die, especially in the case if the child was a girl, since the Chinese favored sons over daughters. When I shared my rage of this situation with with grandmother, she laughed and said that "this little girl was considered lucky in her case", that despite what her birth has brought upon, she was still kept in the family instead of being murdered by suffocation from her own family members. Of course when i heard this, I was even more horrified, because i remember being told during my birth, i almost encountered death, since an umbilical cord was giving my mom and I complications. Although I'm quite sure that by 1989, superstitions like that would have disappeared from the city (at least I hope), or maybe I'm just lucky. =) But yes, poor Adeline.

Chinese Cinderella

Ok, I'm finally going to start reading my first independent reading book, its call Chinese Cinderella. This book is basically an autobiography of the author's life as she was growing up, struggling with her stepmother's cruelty, her dad's forgetful attitude towards her, and her sibling's hate, whether biological or half. It was a reality that "she was denied carfare, frequently forgotten at school at the end of the day, and whipped for daring to attend a classmate's birthday party against Niang's (stepmother, but meaning "mother") wishes. Her father even forgets her name when filling out her school enrollment record" (Amazon). In the mist of all this neglect and torture, the only comfort she could depend on was her love for learning and reading. Eventually, by working hard and persevering did this unfortunate little girl captured a big dream; having her father notice and be proud of her and having an opportunity like her brothers to be going to study abroad in England.

I chose this book because it was a role model I could look up to, someone to inspire me in my journey towards a successful path in my life. I am also infatuated with my own culture, but it's hard to learn anything about it when you live don't live in China, everything you learn in school is basically all European or American related. Although I can proudly say that I am very familiar with my culture due to my parents and grandmother, I still have this hunger to learn more. I don't want to be Chinese, but forget about my identity due to the fact that I live in America. Yet, I am ever- grateful for having such an opportunity to embrace and be apart of both such different and incredible cultures.