Foot Binding in China

From the man’s view, women’s roles and duties in the household were key to a stable family, and men exerted their control over women to ensure their desired way of life. Roman women in their duties to the household and domestic life were an essential to life in the empire. The women’s duties included taking care of household duties, child care, attention to her husband, and cleaning. Women in Han China needed to fulfill her duties in order to be accepted by her husband and family while being obedient and following her husband’s orders. Han women were treated like servants by their husbands and were not allowed to address their husbands by their name which illustrated their limited freedom. According to Mencius an ancient Chinese philosopher, “I have heard that the etiquette between a man and a woman does not apply in their private room. But I lately have been too casual, and when my husband saw me

These beliefs about the roles did not come out of nowhere. Confucius, the teacher of the religion of Confucianism, taught that women's roles were to look after the men in their families. Most did not question his teachings and continued to live with these “rules”. Not only the fact that they believed women were inferior to men and should stay at home, "people believed that women were both morally and intellectually inferior to men and thus needed men's control and guidance" (Tsai). While men were valued for their hard work and getting the money, women were disparaged because they “couldn’t live” without a man’s work.

During the 18th Century women in China continued to be subordinated and subjected to men. Their status was maintained by laws, official policies, cultural traditions, as well as philosophical concepts. The Confucian ideology of 'Thrice Following'; identified to whom a women must show allegiance and loyalty as she progressed throughout her life-cycle: as a daughter she was to follow her father, as a wife she was to follow her husband, and as a widow she was to follow her sons. Moreover, in the Confucian perception of the distinction between inner and outer, women were consigned to the inner domestic realm and excluded from the outer realm of examinations, politics and public life. For

The first point in Confucius 's three main points is the importance of family. Confucius stressed that family is composed of many types of relationships within the family. These relationships are: parent and child, husband and wife, and elder brother and younger brother. The relationship between the elder brother and younger brother is a simple one, but it can easily be overlooked. The relationship between parent and child is one of the ones most emphasized by Confucius. Confucius uses the idea of Filial Piety, the respect of a child for his or her parents, to stress the importance of this relationship. Confucius is also known for the idea that “if the interests of one’s ruler and one’s parents conflicted, one’s support of the parent came first” this is according to the book, page 48. Confucius also has the belief that everyone is born into the world as good. Last but not least, is the relationship between husband and wife. In Lessons for Women by Ban Zhao, Ban Zhao lists many different maxims that led to a

Women in Ancient China during the Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty lived in oppressed lives. Society perceived them as inferior to their husbands and parents-in-law. Their role in the family were to be housewives taking care of their family and maintaining the household chores. They were always under the instructions of their husbands and parents-in-law in they were treated like servants. They also had no control in their personal decisions because they were not allowed to decide who they were going to marry and what they wanted to do in their careers. Parents of daughters would also force their daughters to foot-binding because it would attract potential wealthy husbands. This paper argues that although the Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty were known as the golden periods for China, nevertheless, it was overlooked by historians that women during the time were victims of gender inequality because they lived with no control over their personal lives and were expected to be submissive to their husbands.

What Is Foot Binding? Foot binding is a process used by all women during the Tang Dynasty. Women did this to show their high status and rank. This was a sign of beauty.

Have you ever had an argument with someone over the same idea because you both interpreted it differently? This has happened many times throughout history, leading to the existence of a variety of philosophies within different cultures. Many groups of people throughout history looked to traditional values and laws to create new ones. This was no different 3,000 years ago for the Jews or the Confucians. Confucians and Jews believed in the same values on relationships and acquired those values from similar philosophies, but they differed drastically in their interpretation of these values.

Han China and Classical India had patriarchal societies, leadership systems, and political structures guided through male-dominance. In such societies, females had limited influence in government and often found themselves second to men. Additionally, in Han China, religion was pivotal in the development of a society ruled by males. The primary belief system exercised during the Han dynasty was Confucianism, which developed in southeast Asia during the Zhou dynasty around 1046-256 BCE. According to the teachings of Confucianism, women at every level were to occupy a position lower than men. This religious ideology significantly impacted the lives of Han Females, for it prevented women from achieving a level of success that was greater than a man.

China has centuries of rich history that is studied today. China is a popular and common area of study when researching East Asian topics. Throughout history, it was recorded that many European explorers were disgusted by the cultural practice of foot binding. They viewed the practice as cruel and unnecessary modifications to women’s bodies. In an article released in 1898, the Washington Post says "man has feet as house-pillars have stone supports, as the cart has its axel. There is no movement nor activity without the use of feet. Therefore in binding there is cruelty like that of cutting off legs." In the nineteenth century, to what extent did western perceptions of foot binding in China differ from Chinese perceptions? This essay argues

Women’s duty in society was to exist in the home and be obedient to her husband. They were supposed to stay within the realm of their family conform to the standards of a woman. In fact, whenever women went outside they were expected to cover their face and hide themselves from the view of others (source 5). Women couldn’t even leave their home without feeling some need to hide themselves, as the social structure set by the Neo-Confucians imposed the belief that women were for the home. Additionally, a woman needed to have the utmost respect for her husband and his family, obeying and caring for them. A woman in this period must devote herself to her husband’s family, following their needs (source 1). Her husband controlled her life, giving

Foot binding is believed to have begun in the twelve century, during the (Li Yu reign, 961-75,). There is no particular reason why it started. The last emperor of the later tang dynasty (907-960) during the five dynasties (907-960). ‘The Emperor ordered talented dancers to dance on a six -foot –high, gold –gilded stage in a lotus shape festooned with ribbons and precious stones. Yao Niang was a court dancer she who bound her feet into the shape of new moon she entranced Emperor Li Yo by dancing on her toes when she danced and he thought she look like a gliding lotus on the pond. All the court ladies followed her to get the emperor’s attention. This is believed to be the true origin or they were called the golden lotus feet. (Ping. 2000)

Confucianism heavily influenced East Asia’s family structures and principles. In general, when people think of families in East Asia, often their characteristics differ from thinking of families in Western Europe or America: people think that Western society emphasizes the values of individuals, while Eastern society emphasizes the values of family and group as a whole. The reason why East Asian family – definitely China, Korea, and somewhat Japan – put such an importance on family unity is because Confucius’ teachings emphasized harmony; Confucianism taught that being harmonious with their big family and others of society ultimately results in creating harmonious government and country. In Confucian family, individuals work for harmonious

Naming custom was not the only cultural thing that was following in China. One of the most painful way that took away the women freedom was known as foot binding, “they use cotton and silk to swathe the feet of girls to make the front end sharp and restrict the free growth of both feet” (“International”). Song expressed her feeling towards this strange tradition by saying “They never left home, to move freely was a luxury, stolen from them at birth” (line 11-13). As Cathy Song discovers in the line that the freedom of Chinese women was “stolen” from the very beginning. Song tried to introduce the tradition of foot binding in these lines. In China, when the girls reached their age at three, their feet were bounded so tightly that they could

The study of Confucianism depends on distant family individuals to coordinate during the time spent growing crops, which enormously see the traditional Chinese family as a significant consider the group. Traditionally the Chinese family incorporates, parents, children, grandparents and close relative and everybody who is identified with that family. As the population of China develops and grow the government pass a law which is the "One Child Policy" in the 1970s which has changed the structure of the traditional Chinese family. The present Chinese family only include father, mother and the children. The reason of this is was to control both economic elements and population growth. The traditional Chinese culture women were very unassuming.

The ideal Confucian woman was ‘perfect’. She was impeccably clean and wore the freshest clothes, she guarded her chastity, was always on her best behavior, promoted modesty, chose proper words and spoke at appropriate times, and worked with a passion to sew and weave, kept cleanliness and order, and prepared wine and food for guests (Admonitions for Women, page 824). And that was just what a woman was expected to do for herself. One cannot forget she was expected to remonstrate for her husband, so he would not fall into evil ways (Filiality for Women, page 827). She was also advised to be prepared for guests, no matter the time of day. She should keep everything clean and neat and always have tea prepared for guests. Then, she should