In which dynasty did China women's foot binding begin?

Starting from Li Houzhu in the Southern Tang Dynasty.

Feet, also known as three-inch golden lotus, commonly known as foot-binding, is a feudal custom. Women's feet are wrapped with cloth to make them small and sharp. This kind of tightly wrapped foot, which leads to abnormal bones and muscles, was widely praised by the ancients as a "three-inch golden lotus" face, and even men trembled for it, and women were obsessed with it. It's hard to imagine that if China women didn't bind their feet, would there be more Wu Zetian and Princess Taiping?

When did China women's foot binding begin? There are also many documents and legends. If you don't say anything else, you swear, and writing articles is smelly and long, called "the foot-binding cloth of the Queen Mother". Legend has it that the Queen Mother was a figure in the period of the Yellow Emperor. It is undoubtedly a bit of an "ancient" legacy of Ah Q to say that she bound feet at that time. In fact, according to historical research, the custom of China bound feet began in the Li Houzhu era at the end of the Five Dynasties. As early as the prosperous Tang Dynasty, people had a strong interest in women's "bow shoes". Sometimes I really don't understand. Women with small feet used to be wobbly and weak, and felt that their feet were not small enough. You must think she is "sick". Now, however, we can't see some girls around us who are obviously in a standard figure and clamoring for fat fitness every day. Is this the same psychology as the ancient foot-obsessed woman? Women's foot-binding reached its peak in Qing Dynasty, especially in Shanxi, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi and Gansu. Among them, the foot of Shanxi is the most important, and it has the reputation of "never talking about Shanxi with your feet". Shanxi's little feet put Datong first. The rulers of the Qing Dynasty originally opposed the foot-binding of Han women. During the reign of Kangxi, they explicitly prohibited it, and offenders took the blame from their parents. At that time, a senior official said that "playing football for the minister's wife should enlarge the feet first", and the result was passed down as a national joke, showing the power of "charm" of foot binding. In the end, Emperor Kangxi's ban on foot binding was automatically revoked after only a few years. Not only that, women with banners began to follow suit. It was not until Emperor Qianlong made repeated orders and forbade some women under the banner to pester them. Gege people have no choice but to put on clogs with the shape of golden lotus at the bottom to fill the facade. Seeing that the emperor's old son was helpless about the foot-binding of the Han people, the foot-binding fanatics were naturally ecstatic and rushed to tell each other, so the wind of foot-binding intensified and women's feet were worshipped as never before. The reason why foot-binding can be widely prevalent, lasting for a long time and spreading widely is undoubtedly the direct result of women's mental and physical imprisonment after the Song Dynasty. Little-footed women not only catered to the vulgar tastes of feudal rulers and literati who regarded women as playthings, but also satisfied the morbid consciousness and peculiar aesthetic view of the so-called "thin feet are invisible". The more you look at it, the more pitiful it is. The abnormal male in feudal times has also become an oppressive means to imprison women in feudal times. In the Song Dynasty, Zhu was keen to promote foot binding in southern Fujian and other places as a strategy of "governing women", separating men and women, "giving and receiving without kissing" and "living in seclusion". Once the foot is bound, she can't even walk steadily. Isn't the woman "honest"?

Girls' foot-binding usually begins at the age of four or five, and they wrap their feet tightly with cloth strips to prevent them from growing up. By the age of six or seven, they have been wrapped up and will never grow up again. Exquisite people choose August 24 to wrap their feet for their daughters. On this day, as usual, it is necessary to "cook glutinous rice and red beans into a ball and worship the stove, which is called sticky ball." It is said that eating glutinous rice can soften the tibia. When binding feet, bend the four toes except the big toe to the soles of the feet, wrap them tightly with white cotton cloth, put on "pointed shoes" after the feet are fixed, and let two maids help you walk during the day to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis; Tie the foot wrap tightly with thread at night to prevent it from coming loose. When I was six or seven years old, I bent my phalanx, bound it with a foot wrap, and then tightened it day after day to deform my feet. Only by wrapping them in "small, thin, sharp, curved, fragrant, soft and straight" can you finish them. After years of cruel entanglement, great changes have taken place in both feet from skin to muscles, joints and bones. From the appearance, the skin is white and soft, and the soles of the feet are deep; From the bottom, it is basically a triangular structure. It can't walk normally with its sole, and it also loses the ability to jump and dance, so it can only be "equal". At that time, men thought that women could not easily communicate with other men across the hospital after being entangled. As the saying goes: a pair of little feet, a jar of tears. There is a folk song in Hubei called "Ten Hate Songs for Bigfoot". Hunan Huarong's ballad is: "wrapped in feet, wrapped in feet, you are sad to live, your feet are small and you can't do anything;" "His feet are wrapped in pointed clothes, and he only shouts at the sky when he walks, and only relies on men as bricks." It can be said that it sings the taste.

It can hardly be called a foot. Ten toes twisted together, blurred shape, curled up like a fist. The foot-binding cloth was released layer by layer, which was terrible. Moreover, I heard that in the past, young ladies rarely opened foot wraps, so they would have beriberi, which stinks. So, where is the beauty of the three-inch golden lotus praised by the literati in Xu Ruo era? It is said that it is popular because girls walk unsteadily after foot-binding, swaying and delicate, adding a feminine posture and making people love it. I thought foot-binding was a bad habit and quirk of corrupt Confucianism among the people, and it had no source. Unexpectedly, its founder turned out to be Li Houzhu, a singer and dancer, the king of national subjugation. According to unofficial history's records, on a whim, Li Houzhu personally bound feet for his beloved princess, winding silk into a crescent shape, and letting the ladies-in-waiting walk around the flowers, with a swaying gait, fragile and invincible. Imperial secretary regarded this as beauty, and in order to compete for favor, they followed suit in succession. When people learned it, it became popular among wealthy families and became a fashion. It's just that although the late Tang Dynasty died, bow shoes prevailed, and this wind swept through the Song and Ming Dynasties until the Qing Dynasty. Although people still value small feet, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty realized that it was not beauty but weakness, and forbidden concubines to bind their feet. In recent years, the costume style of TV series is extremely prosperous, especially in the Qing Dynasty. In some plays, three inches of golden lotus are placed in the close-up skirt, the bottom of the flowerpot is pushed down, and it is a big fallacy to walk. Manchu immediately won the world and attached great importance to riding and shooting. Even women regularly take part in bow hunting and foot binding. How can they get on the horse? I don't see any three-inch riding boots. Moreover, flowerpot bottom and bow shoes are completely two concepts. Bow shoes are generally wooden soles, three inches long and embroidered with satin; The flowerpot shoes are also wooden soles, but they are three inches high and flowerpot-shaped. Although they are all three-inch palace shoes, these three inches are not three inches, and palace shoes are not equal to "bow shoes." At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, bow shoes with two-color cloth as uppers were popular, with dense stitches and mixed colors. There is a famous saying that "the fault lies in the end". Fortunately, it hasn't been a problem. After liberation, the woman finally tore off something to wrap her feet and recovered her feet. But now women's high heels are not only three inches high, but also sloppy, which can barely be called three-inch golden lotus. Shoes suitable for three-inch golden lotus are naturally very special. There are a series of miniature shoes, such as golden lotus in Qing Dynasty, flowerpot sole shoes, "sleeping shoes" worn by northwest Hui women, embroidered shoes of Dongxiang women, embroidered shoes of Tu women, wedding shoes of Uygur women, embroidered shoes with hooks of Yi people and so on.

Three-inch golden lotus was popular at that time, and now it is a history. Will slowly disappear over time, but will not be forgotten.