Around 1200, East Asia was among the most sophisticated and dynamic regions of the world. At its core was the enormous Chinese civilization, which for centuries had experienced powerful and relatively stable states, cultural and intellectual flowering and remarkable technological innovations, and economic growth. The Song Dynasty ruled over large parts of the Chinese civilization and experienced, with few exceptions, a period of relatively stable political rule. Successive dynasties inherited much older cultural and political traditions that in turn outlasted even the Song, continuing into the 20th century. Culturally, the Song Dynasty was a “golden age” of arts and literature setting standards of excellence in poetry landscape painting, and ceramics even as its scholars debated new forms of Confucian philosophy
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However, this “golden age” of the Song Dynasty was perhaps less golden for many women in China. Confucian writers emphasize the subordination of women to men and the need to keep males and females separate in every domain of life. The Song historian and scholar Sima Guang summed up the prevailing view: “the boy leads the girl, the girl follows the boy; the duty of husbands is too resolute and wives to be docile begins with this.“ The most compelling expression of the tightening patriarchy among elite women was foot binding. Apparently beginning among dancers and courtesans in the 10th or 11th century, this practice involves the tight wrapping of young girls’ feet, usually breaking the bones of the foot and causing intense pain. During and after the Song Dynasty, foot binding found general acceptance among elite families and later became even more widespread in Chinese society. It was associated with the images of female beauty and served to keep women restricted to their inner quarters where Confucian tradition asserted that they belonged.
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The process of foot binding had to begin in childhood when a girl was 5 or 6. First, her feet were plunged into hot water and her toenails clipped short. Then the feet were massaged and oiled before all the toes, except the big toes, were broken and bound flat against the sole, making a triangle shape. Next, her arch was strained as the foot was bent double. Finally, the feet were bound in place using a silk strip measuring ten feet long and two inches wide. These wrappings were briefly removed every two days to prevent blood and pus from infecting the foot. Sometimes “excess” flesh was cut away or encouraged to rot. The girls were forced to walk long distances in order to hasten the breaking of their arches. Over time the wrappings became tighter and the shoes smaller as the heel and sole were crushed together. After two years the process was complete, creating a deep cleft that could hold a coin in place. Once a foot had been crushed and bound, the shape could not be reversed without a woman undergoing the same pain all over again.
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