47 shocking foot shots of Chinese lotus women

The origins of the Chinese "leg bandage", as well as the traditions of Chinese culture as a whole, date back to hoary antiquity - to the 10th century. In ancient China, girls began to bandage their legs from 4-5 years of age (breast babies still could not tolerate the pain from tight bandages that crippled their feet). As a result of these torments, by about 10 years old, about 10-centimeter “lotus leg” had formed in the girls. Later they began to learn the correct "adult" gait. And after two or three years, they were already ready-made girls. Thanks to this, making love in China was called "a walk between the golden lotuses."

The Institute of leg banding was regarded as necessary and beautiful, practiced for ten centuries. Rare attempts to "liberate" the feet were nevertheless made, however, those who opposed the ceremony were white crows.

Foot bandaging has become part of general psychology and popular culture. In preparation for marriage, the groom’s parents first asked about the bride’s foot, and then about her face.

The foot was considered its main human quality.

During the bandaging process, mothers comforted their daughters, drawing them the dazzling prospects of a marriage that depended on the beauty of the bandaged leg.

Later, one essayist, apparently a great connoisseur of this custom, described 58 varieties of legs of the "lotus woman", each rated on a 9-point scale. For instance:

Types: lotus petal, young moon, slender arc, bamboo shoot, Chinese chestnut.

Special Features: puffiness, softness, grace.

Classifications:

Divine (A-1): supremely puffy, soft and graceful.

Marvelous (A-2): weak and sophisticated ...

Wrong: ape-like big heel giving you the opportunity to climb.

Even the owner of the Golden Lotus (A-1) could not rest on her laurels: she had to constantly and scrupulously follow etiquette, which imposed a number of restrictions:

1) do not walk with raised fingertips;

2) do not walk with at least temporarily weakened heels;

3) do not move the skirt while sitting;

4) do not move your legs when resting.

The same essayist concludes his treatise with the most reasonable (of course, for men) advice: “Do not remove the blindfolds to look at the bare legs of a woman, be satisfied with the appearance. Your aesthetic feeling will be offended if you break this rule.”

Although it is difficult to imagine for Europeans, the "lotus leg" was not only the pride of women, but also the subject of the highest aesthetic and sexual desires of Chinese men. It is known that even a fleeting appearance of the "lotus legs" could cause a severe attack of sexual arousal in men.

The "strip" of such a leg was the height of the sexual fantasies of ancient Chinese men. Judging by the literary canons, the ideal "lotus legs" were certainly small, thin, pointed, curved, soft, symmetrical and ... fragrant.

Bandaging the legs also violated the natural shape of the female body. This process led to a constant load on the hips and buttocks - they swelled, became puffy (and were called “voluptuous” by men).

Chinese women had to pay a very high price for beauty and sex appeal.

Owners of ideal legs were doomed to lifelong physical suffering and inconvenience.

The foot was miniaturized due to its severe mutilation.

Some fashionistas who wished to reduce the size of their legs to the utmost, reached their costolition in their efforts. As a result, they lost the ability to walk and stand normally.

The emergence of a unique custom of bandaging female legs dates back to the Chinese Middle Ages, although the exact time of its origin is unknown.

According to legend, one court lady by the name of Yu was famous for great grace and was an excellent dancer. Once she made herself shoes in the form of golden lotus flowers, the size of a couple of tops.

To fit into these shoes, Yu bandaged her legs with pieces of silk fabric and danced. Her small steps and swaying became legendary and marked the beginning of a centuries-old tradition.

A creature with fragile build, thin long fingers and soft palms, delicate skin and a pale face with a high forehead, small ears, thin eyebrows and a small round mouth - this is a portrait of a classic Chinese beauty.

Ladies from good families shaved off part of the hair on the forehead to lengthen the oval of the face, and achieved a perfect lip contour, applying the lipstick in a circle.

The custom prescribed that the female figure “shine with the harmony of straight lines”, and for this, the girl was already tightened with a canvas bandage, special bodice or special vest at the age of 10-14 years. The development of the mammary glands was stopped, the mobility of the chest and the body's oxygen supply were sharply limited.

Usually this adversely affected the health of a woman, but she looked "graceful." A thin waist and small legs were considered a sign of grace of the girl, and this provided her with the attention of the suitors.

Sometimes the wives and daughters of wealthy Chinese were so disfigured by their legs that they could hardly walk on their own at all. They said of such women: "They are like a reed that sways in the wind."

Women with such legs were carried on carts, carried in palanquins, or strong maids carried them on their shoulders, like little children. If they tried to move themselves, then they were supported from both sides.

In 1934, an elderly Chinese woman recalled her childhood experiences:

“I was born in a conservative family in Ping Xi, I had to face the pain of bandaging my legs at the age of seven. Then I was a mobile and cheerful child, I liked to jump, but after that everything disappeared.

The older sister endured the whole process from 6 to 8 years (which means it took two years for her foot to become smaller than 8 cm). It was the first lunar month of my seventh year of life, when my ears were pierced and golden earrings were removed.

They told me that the girl has to suffer twice: when piercing her ears and the second time when bandaging her legs. The latter began on the second lunar month. Mother consulted on guides about the most suitable day.

I ran away and hid in the house of the neighbors, but my mother found me, selected me and dragged me home. She slammed the bedroom door behind us, boiled water and removed bandages, shoes, a knife and a thread with a needle from a drawer. I begged to postpone it for at least a day, but my mother said: “Today is an auspicious day. If you bandage today, then it will not hurt, and if tomorrow, it will be terribly sick.”

She washed my legs and applied alum, and then trimmed her nails. Then she bent her fingers and tied them with cloth three meters long and five centimeters wide - first the right foot, then the left. After it was all over, she ordered me to go for a walk, but when I tried to do it, the pain seemed unbearable.

My mother forbade me to take off my shoes that night. It seemed to me that my legs were burning, and I naturally could not sleep. I cried, and my mother began to beat me.

In the following days I tried to hide, but again I was forced to walk. For resistance, my mother beat me in the arms and legs. Beatings and curses followed the secret removal of the bandages. After three or four days, the feet were washed and alum was added. After a few months, all my fingers, except the thumb, were bent, and when I ate meat or fish, my legs swelled and festered.

My mother scolded me for emphasizing the heel when walking, claiming that my foot would never take on a beautiful shape. She never allowed changing dressings and wiping blood and pus, believing that when all the meat had disappeared from my foot, she would become graceful. If I mistakenly ripped off a wound, then blood flowed in a stream. My big toes, once strong, flexible and puffy, were now wrapped in small pieces of matter and extended to give them the shape of a young moon.

Every two weeks I changed my shoes, and the new pair was supposed to be 3-4 millimeters smaller than the previous one. The boots were unyielding, and getting into them was worth a lot of effort. When I wanted to sit quietly by the stove, my mother made me walk. After I changed more than 10 pairs of shoes, my foot decreased to 10 cm. I had been wearing bandages for a month when the same ceremony was performed with my younger sister. When nobody was around, we could cry together.

In summer, my legs smelled terribly because of blood and pus, in winter they froze due to insufficient blood circulation, and when I sat down near the stove, I was sick from the warm air. Four fingers on each leg curled up like dead caterpillars; hardly any stranger could imagine that they belong to man. It took me two years to reach an 8-centimeter foot size.

Toenails have grown into the skin. The strongly bent sole could not be scratched. If she was sick, it was difficult to reach the right place, if only to simply stroke him. My lower legs became weak, my feet became twisted, ugly and smelled badly. How I envied the girls who had the natural shape of their legs! "

"The stepmother or aunt when bandaging their legs showed much greater rigidity than their mother. There is a description of an old man who was pleased to hear the crying of his daughters when applying bandages ...

In the house everyone had to go through this rite. The first wife and concubines had the right to concessions, and for them it was not such a terrible event. They applied the bandage once in the morning, once in the evening, and again before bedtime. The husband and first wife strictly checked the density of the dressing, and those who weakened it were beaten.

The sleeping shoes were so small that the women asked the owner of the house to rub their feet so that it would bring at least some relief. Another rich man was famous for securing his concubines along their tiny feet until blood appeared. "

The sexuality of the bandaged leg was based on its secrecy from the eyes and on the mystery surrounding its development and care for it. When the bandages were removed, the legs were washed in the boudoir in the strictest confidence. The frequency of ablutions ranged from once a week to once a year. After that, alum and perfumes with various aromas were used, corns and nails were processed.

The ablution process contributed to the restoration of blood circulation. Figuratively speaking, they unfolded the mummy, conjured it and wrapped it again, adding even more preservatives.

The rest of the body was never washed simultaneously with the foot due to fear of becoming a pig in the next life. Well-mannered women could die with shame if men saw the process of washing their feet. This is understandable: the stinking decaying flesh of the foot would be an unpleasant discovery for a man who suddenly appeared and would offend his aesthetic feeling.

In the 18th century, Parisian women copied "lotus shoes", they were in drawings on Chinese porcelain, furniture and other trinkets of the fashionable "chinoiserie" style.

Amazingly, it is a fact - the Parisian designers of the new era, who came up with pointed-toed high-heeled women's shoes, referred to them only as "Chinese shoes."

To at least approximately feel what it is:

Instructions:

1. Take a piece of cloth about three meters long and five centimeters wide.

2. Take a pair of baby shoes.

3. Bend your toes, except the big one, into the foot. Wrap your fingers around the fabric first and then the heel. Bring the heel and toes as close to each other as possible. Wrap the remaining material tightly around the foot.

4. Put your foot in children's shoes.

5. Try a walk.

6. Imagine that you are five years old ...

7. ... and that you have to walk this way all your life.