When did ancient women's foot-binding begin (2007-10-0416: 23: 01)?

Foot-binding is a bad habit in ancient China, that is, wrapping a woman's feet with cloth and silk, making it a small and sharp "three-inch golden lotus". "Three-inch golden lotus" once became an important aesthetic condition for ancient women in China. However, when did ancient women's foot-binding begin? Why is the foot-binding called "Golden Lotus"? But it remains a mystery.

Legend of the origin of foot binding

There are different opinions about the origin of foot binding. Some say it began in the Sui Dynasty, some say it began in the Tang Dynasty, and some say it began in the Five Dynasties. Some people even say that Yu's wife and da ji in Xia and Shang Dynasties were both small feet. It can be said that there are different opinions and no one can agree.

China ancient myths and legends do have such traces. Legend has it that Dayu married Tu Shanshi's daughter and gave birth to a child when he was in charge of water control. Tu Shan barren woman is a fox spirit with small feet; It is said that da ji, the concubine of the late Yin Dynasty, was also a fox, or pheasant.

Fine, but her feet didn't get better, so she wrapped them in cloth. Because of da ji's love, all the women in the palace followed her example and held back. Of course, these are just folk myths and legends, which contain more romance.

, is not enough to become a certificate of women's foot binding at that time.

Foot-binding began in Sui Dynasty and also originated from folklore. According to legend, when Yang Di went to Jiangdu, he recruited hundreds of beautiful women to pull fibers for him. A woman named Wu Yueniang was chosen. She hated Yang-ti's tyranny, so she asked her father, a blacksmith, to grow up.

A three-inch, one-inch wide lotus-petal knife, and wrap the knife under your feet with a long cloth, while wrapping your feet as small as possible. Then carved a lotus on the sole, and printed a beautiful lotus in one step when walking. Emperor Yang Di was overjoyed when he saw him.

Yue came over and told her to come near, wanting to enjoy her little feet. Wu Yueniang slowly untied the foot cloth, suddenly pulled out a lotus petal knife and stabbed Yang Di. Emperor Yang Di flashed by quickly, but his arm was stabbed. Wu Yueniang saw that the assassination failed and threw himself into the river.

Yes Later, Emperor Yang Di issued a decree: No matter how beautiful a woman is, "foot-binding women will not be selected" in future beauty contests. However, in order to commemorate the mother of the moon, folk women have bound their feet. At this point, the wind of women's foot binding has intensified.

Foot-binding began in the Five Dynasties and originated from concubines in Li Houzhu in the Southern Tang Dynasty. She is beautiful and versatile. She is good at singing and dancing. Li Houzhu specially made a six-foot-tall golden lotus, decorated with jewels and ribbons, and ordered her to tie her feet with silk to make them slightly bend into crescent shapes. Then she put on plain socks and danced on the lotus stage to make the dance more beautiful.

Foot-binding has been recorded in the Song Dynasty.

However, some scholars have pointed out through research that foot-binding of ancient women in China rose in the Northern Song Dynasty, and women in China did not do it before the Five Dynasties. Su Dongpo, a poet in the Song Dynasty, once wrote the word "Bodhisattva Man" and lamented foot binding. "Don't cherish step by step lotus,

Dragon is worried about going to Ling Bo with socks; I saw the dance in the air without a trace. Stealing the palace is as stable as Mount Tai, and it is a double drop; It's hard to say exquisite, but it must be seen from the palm of your hand. "This can also be called the first poem dedicated to foot-binding in the history of China's poetry. It should be noted that,

The writing of foot-binding poetry depends on the appearance of foot-binding custom, which shows that foot-binding custom did appear in Song Dynasty. In the Southern Song Dynasty, women's foot-binding became more common, and even in the late Southern Song Dynasty, "little feet" had become a common practice for women.

Weigh. However, in the Southern Song Dynasty, women's foot-binding was not popular, and it was mainly confined to the upper class, and the social concept of foot-binding was not accepted by everyone. At the same time, the custom of foot-binding spread from the north to the south, about

When the song dynasty moved south.

Foot-binding in Song Dynasty is different from the three-inch golden lotus in later generations. According to historical records, foot binding in the Song Dynasty was to "straighten" your feet without bending, which was called "getting on the horse" at that time. The shoes used are called "Wrong in the End", and the soles are very sharp and consist of two colors. At present, this kind of foot-binding shoes has been found in archaeology. From the archaeological findings, it is speculated that the feet wrapped by these shoes are bigger than those later.

Mongolian aristocrats did not bind their feet after they entered the Central Plains for Jianyuan, but they did not object to the habit of binding their feet by the Han people. On the contrary, they still hold an appreciation attitude. In this way, the wind of foot-binding in the Yuan Dynasty continued to develop, and it was very late in the Yuan Dynasty.

To the emergence of the concept of not being ashamed of foot binding. In the Yuan Dynasty, women's foot-binding continued to develop in a slender direction, but there were still many people who did not, especially in southern Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Lingnan areas. In the Ming dynasty, women's foot-binding entered a prosperous period, and

All localities have developed rapidly. When Zhang invaded Sichuan in the late Ming Dynasty, women were small and piled up into mountains, which were called Jinlianfeng. This shows that Sichuan women's foot binding is flourishing. The shape of foot binding in this period also has certain requirements, female.

Feet should not only be small, but also be shrunk to three inches, and they should be bowed and wrapped in the shape of horns and millet.

After the Manchu rulers entered the Central Plains, they strongly opposed the custom of foot-binding of Han people at first, and repeatedly ordered women to ban foot-binding. But at this time, the wind of foot-binding was hard to stop, and it had to stop in the seventh year of Kangxi (1668).

Prohibit. This incident was once rendered as "men refusing women"-the Qing soldiers entered the customs and had a "haircut order". Under the pressure of force, the Han people finally had to give in, so the man shaved his hair and surrendered to the Qing court.

Symbol. At the same time, although women's foot-binding was ordered by the Qing court to stop, it did not achieve the purpose of prohibition, so there is a saying that "men drop women." This shows that the wind of foot binding is deeply rooted. Because of this, women

Foot-binding reached its peak in the Qing Dynasty, and women from all walks of life, rich and poor, bound their feet one after another. Even some ethnic minorities in the northwest and southwest are infected with the custom of foot binding. At the same time, women are small.

Feet have received unprecedented worship and attention. During this period, the shape and size of feet became an important criterion to judge the beauty and ugliness of women. As a woman, whether and how to bind her feet will directly affect her personal life.

Big deal. At that time, people from all walks of life were ashamed of women's big feet and proud of women's small feet when they got married. The theory of "three-inch golden lotus" is deeply rooted in people's hearts, and even it is less than three inches. As a result, women are inconvenient to move because their feet are too small.

In and out of the "Miss Hug", everyone had to be hugged by others. This kind of woman was quite popular at that time.

Why are feet called "golden lotus"

Speaking of "three-inch golden lotus", people can't help asking why women's little feet are called "golden lotus" and how is "golden lotus" associated with little feet? For a long time, people have been interested in this question, but there has been no satisfactory answer.

There is a saying that "Jin Ping Mei" is named after the story that Pan Fei, who was in a daze in the eastern part of Qi State in the Southern Dynasties, opened lotus flowers step by step. Dong Hunhou cut it into the shape of a lotus with gold foil, spread it on the ground, and let Pan Fei walk barefoot on it, thus forming the beauty of "Lotus Step by Step".

Wonderful sight. But the "golden lotus" here does not refer to Pan Fei's feet. There is also a saying that Jin Ping Mei is named after the story of five generations of mothers dancing on the lotus platform. But the golden lotus here refers to the shape of the stage, not the mother's.

Feet.

In this regard, some scholars believe that Jiao Jiao is called Jinlian, which should be investigated from the aspect of lotus in Buddhist culture. Lotus emerges from the mud without being stained, which is regarded as a symbol of purity in Buddhism. After Buddhism was introduced into China, Lotus

As a symbol of beauty, nobility, preciousness and auspiciousness, it was also introduced to China and accepted by the people of China. In the auspicious words and patterns of China people, the lotus occupies a considerable position, which also illustrates this point. Therefore,

There is no doubt that lotus is a good name for a woman's foot. In addition, in Buddhist art, bodhisattvas mostly stand barefoot on the lotus, which may also be an important reason for linking the lotus with women's feet. Why?

Adding the word "gold" before "lotus" is due to the traditional language habits of China people. China people like to decorate precious or beautiful things with "gold", such as "golden mouth", "golden eye" and "golden hall". Take little feet as an example.

In the era of expensive foot-binding, adding the word "gold" next to the word "lotus" to become "golden lotus" should also be a laudatory name to express preciousness. Therefore, later soccer fans tend to divide beauty and ugliness by size, including those within three inches.

For Jinlian, silver lotus is within four inches, and iron lotus is above four inches. So when it comes to the golden lotus, it must be a three-inch golden tongue, which is the so-called three-inch golden lotus. Later, Jinlian was also used to refer to foot-binding shoes, and Jinlian became synonymous with feet.