Yeh Shen Research Paper

Cinderella is a famous tale to all. Adults, children, and the elderly; but why? Its was told for many years even during ancient Egypt. They’re multiple stories about the same tale, one of the most famous has to be Disney’s Animated Film Version Cinderella. Comparing this famous tale to another one on the other side of the world, In China a Story called Yeh-shen.

In addressing the subject of footbinding, one primary difficulty becomes apparent - that much remains within the realm of the unknowable. Any factual knowledge about the practice may only be drawn from 19th- and 20th-century writings, drawings or photographs. In addition, many of these documents represent a distinctly Western point of view, as they are primarily composed of missionary accounts and the literature of the various anti -footbinding societies.[1] The historical origins of footbinding are frustratingly vague, although brief textual references suggest that small feet for women were preferred as early as the Han dynasty. The first documented reference to the actual binding of a foot is from the court of

Many years ago the sign of feminine beauty was small feet. To accomplish this goal many women would bind their feet. Foot binding is an extremely excruciating custom from Asia and went from 970 AD to the 1950’s. For 1,000 years foot binding was considered the standard of feminine beauty.

In the article, Ko highlights the many misconceptions modern people have on footbinding such as keeping a woman’s foot bound, kept them in a hobbled and subservient domestic state or as sex objects . Afterwards, she states that our “certainties may turn out to be dead wrong” suggesting to readers that she is going to shine a positive light on footbinding. Ko goes more in depth about the three things men believed footbinding was, and why the tradition of binding ones foot was important at that time. The Chinese believed that wearing shoes differentiated and distinguished them from beasts as well as savages

One of these forms called “foot binding” involved young girls being forced to bind their feet so they looked more attractive. “At the age of three to 4 years, girls became the victim of the barbarous custom of Foot binding which was supposed to start in the 10th century and have been in fashion since the early 20th century.” (Patel 771) When the girl turns three, or around that age, the mother tucks her toes under the sole of her foot. She does this by using bandages to wrap them under. This would reduce the foot’s length by about three inches. A classic saying states “For every pair of bound feet, a bucket full of tears.” Currently, only nineteen women remain in the world with bound feet. The main character of the book, Wang Lu, supports all of this pain and suffering because of feudalism. The true definition of feudalism involves peasants doing labor and sharing a portion of the produce in exchange for military protection from the government, which may not seem similar to Wang Lu and O-Lan at first, but the simile here makes sense. O-Lan, or any Chinese housewife in this time, would do labor, the chores, bind their feet, and so on in exchange for a roof over their heads and a place to sleep at night. Wang Lu, however, may not be the only one to support this ideals. In chapter 28, his son states, “I desire a maid from a village, of good landed family and without poor relatives, and one who will bring a good dowry with her, neither plain nor fair to look upon, and a good cook, so that even though there are servants in the kitchen she may watch them. And she must be such a one that if she buys rice it will be enough and not a handful over and if she buys cloth the garment will be well cut so that the scraps of cloth left over should lie in the palm of her hand. Such an one I want.” (Buck 290) With young men looking up to their fathers and mothers, it begins a vicious

According to Li Xiu-ying, a victim of foot binding, “I knew that already because every woman I ever saw had bound feet. Before the Communists came I never even heard of a woman not having bound feet.” Li Xiu-ying was stating that almost every Chinese women at that time had experienced foot binding; it was considered as a rule for young women and not an exception. Foot binding began in tenth century China and was very popular during the Song and the Qing dynasties. Although it caused many health complications and lifelong disabilities, foot binding became popular by a process of displaying status and also was embraced as a symbol of beauty in Chinese culture. Women were affected by foot binding in many ways, especially physically, socially,

The size of a woman’s foot was often used by a man and his parents to decide if a woman was attractive or marriage worthy. Small feet were seen as a valued trait because it demonstrated that a woman could be subjected to physical suffering. This physical suffering proved that a woman was capable of obeying her husband. (Hong, F., 1997) Foot binding was also attractive to prospective husbands and in-laws because it demonstrated that a woman’s family was wealthy enough to practice foot binding and keep their daughters from working in the field.

Perhaps one of the most memorable moments in the Good Earth is when Wang Lung stumbles upon his younger daughter with a depressed look on her face. Wang Lung asks her in a kind voice why she had wept, and she cries, “Because my mother binds a cloth about my feet more tightly every day and I cannot sleep at night” (Buck, 248). Foot binding was a common practice in China before it became outlawed in 1915. The process involved forcefully breaking the bones of the young girl, which would cause her permanent pain for the rest of her life. Small feet were considered to be beautiful in China, and women with large feet were considered unattractive. Women with bound feet were unable to walk long distances and as a result had to be carried. Although it has been over a century since foot binding has last been permitted, people in the United States are still completing horrendous acts for the sake of beauty. One such example is a tongue piercing, where a needle is painstakingly stuck through the tongue and metal pieces of various sizes are inserted. Perri Klass, in her

In all countries, there are rituals, myths, and taboo that have been, and continue to be practiced to this day. In the critical thinking, I will be focusing one practice in particular, and that is foot-binding. Foot- binding is known at the cruel breaking and bending of the feet of a female and shoved into a shoe. It started in China in the early 10th century. It was during the reign of Emperor Li Yu after his favorite concubine performed a dance with her feet wrapped into hoof-like shapes. The maidens of the court took notice and began wrapping their feet in a similar fashion. This became a trend to women to show wealth and power starting in the south and moving to the north. Girls as young as 4 would practice this act.

The ancient custom of foot binding was a long standing tradition in China from as early as 700AD to as late as the early 1900s. The practice of breaking a woman's arch in their foot at an early age

From cultures all over the world. Each culture has a “Cinderella” story. Each one is different but has the same moral to the story. “The wicked stepmother”(India) and “ the little red fish and the golden clog”(Iraqi) are two different stories from two different cultures having the same morals as the “Cinderella” stories. Both stories have the daughter who was beautiful and kind, evil stepmother, stepsister(s) and the “godmother”.

As a rule, the vast majority of the analysts from various parts of the world have understood the cozy connections amongst footbinding and sexuality. Ladies' bound feet have assumed a very uncommon part in the sexual dimension of the Chinese life. In most scholastic writings, a general public-wide suggestive interest with bound feet is often considered as the assumed position. The prevalent creative energy holds that footbinding was basically roused by sensuality. At the end of the day, the motivation behind why footbinding was kept up for such quite a while is its sexual fascination for Chinese male population. As far back as the Song Dynasty, too much pointed and little feet have framed a vital trait of a lovely lady, and there slowly created

Many people have been binding feet since 1912. Some people who survived living in Liuyun. Zhou Guizhen for example survived this barbaric. Zhou was born into rich family and all her possessions were confiscated by communists. Now footbinding stands for female subjugation. The women are victims of a history in a society that finds their plight an embarrassing.

Although no definite reason or person has been identified as responsible for the birth of footbinding, there are a few theories. One deals with the Shang dynasty's last empress' malformed feet. Some say she had club feet, bound them in attempts to distil beauty from malformation, and convinced her "spouse to make the compression of feet obligatory for young girls" (Levy, 37). Another scenario involves the Mongols attempting to impair the health of the Chinese women in order to weaken the Chinese. Still another theory, and possibly the most credible, involves the Chinese women attempting to attain greater appeal. Footbinding was not started by women for want of greater self control, nor did it originate from foreign powers. Well

When coupled with the line "the bound feet" (Piercy, 20), the poem appears as if it were a comment solely about the injustice forced upon Chinese women from 934 until 1949. Foot binding is a painful process which includes breaking all of the toes and arch of the foot to grossly alter the shape of the foot, so that the foot, when mature would be no more than four inches long.  The first break was usually made when a girl was three to five years old, then the feet were wrapped in yards of cloth to prevent them from growing or reshaping. The pain from the initial break was nothing compared to the enduring pain the women experienced for the rest of their lives. The pain was caused by the drastically deformed feet. (Chinese foot binding- lotus shoes)