CUSTOMS

 = = ===**CHINESE CUSTOMS **** FOOT BINDING **=== by Lindsay Jones media type="youtube" key="H_FYM2Y4AR4" width="425" height="350"

 

Pain of Acceptance
Breaking all of the bones in someone’s foot and bending it seems really painful. This was normal in China, though. For over one thousand years, the ancient custom of foot binding was performed on girls and women across the country. Binding one’s feet to achieve beauty seems crazy today, but in ancient China it was a common procedure. Although women who bound their feet were viewed as beautiful by men and society, they experienced many bad effects that were too painful to ignore. __Foot binding was a major part of China’s customs and culture__. It was practiced for interesting reasons, had a painful procedure, and included everlasting effects. Girls of all ages bound their feet for several reasons, some worse than others. Originally, it was done to “imitate an imperial concubine who was required to dance with her feet bound” (Ling, Stone). This innocent imitation of someone brave and famous soon became very popular and widespread. Women who had their feet bound were seen as beautiful by society, so many mothers bound their daughter’s feet at young ages. Another reason why women put themselves through this unbearable pain was because men were attracted to women who had their feet bound. Bound feet were very desirable before they became illegal. The tradition of foot binding was a large part of Chinese culture that put girls and women through pain to be viewed as beautiful. The foot binding procedure put its victims through unreasonable amounts of pain, despite the many motives. The whole purpose of foot binding was to keep the foot from getting bigger than three to four inches. To achieve such an small size, all of the bones in the foot were first broken. Once that was achieved, the foot was bent in half but to the side a little bit, so it formed a pointy tip. Several yards of cloth were then wrapped around the deformed foot to hold it in that position, which was repeated daily. This procedure would permanently damage the feet. These small, oddly shaped feet could not fit into regular shoes. Special shoes called lotus shoes were made to accommodate the deformed shape of feet. Once the damage this caused to women was realized, the procedure was deemed illegal. Lotus shoes are no longer produced, and the foot binding tradition is no longer practiced. The dangerous effects of foot binding were not limited to the actual foot; women were found to have lower bone density in their hips and spine if they had their feet bound. The deformity of the foot kept women from completing daily activities, such as chasing after children or quickly standing up from a chair. They also had problems walking, squatting, and working in the fields for their jobs. They were also more likely to have fallen over for no reason. These many physical setbacks were a problem for many women for their entire life. The quote “pain is beauty” has a whole different meaning with foot binding (anonymous). The pain that women went through to be beautiful is ridiculous. These effects that stuck with women for their whole lives were unfixable, but women barely complained. Only a handful of women with their feet bound are still living, and they highly regret getting this procedure done. Chinese foot binding was done for many reasons. It had a super painful procedure, and very uncomfortable effects that lasted a lifetime. The common Chinese custom of binding one’s feet seems crazy in today’s society, but it was a normal procedure that took place for one thousand years. The pain of breaking and bending of one’s feet never ends. 

Oracle Bones
**Write It** Everybody needs paper, in order to write, but before the invention of paper, people used to write on bones. These bones are from the Chinese, and are called oracle bones. These bones are the first examples of a written Chinese language. They are heated up and cracked in order to write the words into the bone. Oracle bones are an important part of Chinese Culture, because of its materials, history, and written characters. In order for the bone not to break or melt, under the heat and pressure, people had to use flat and strong bones. The process alone is difficult and the materials are even harder to find. “Oracle bone inscriptions, the earliest Chinese writing scripts, are the ancient Chinese characters carved on tortoise (turtle) shells and animal scapulas (skulls)” ([|http://chineseculture.about.com]). The bones from the skull are the hardest and most durable. They are used to carve in the characters that would allow them to have a written language to communicate and remember. The history of Chinese language is great, and they start with oracle bones. These date back to the Shang period and are very fragile. The people that found these bones were amazed to find that the bones were so hard and their uses were weird. They were sold as dragon bones, and were a “cure” for knife wounds. This makes oracle bones an important part of Chinese culture. The script of these bones was unique, meaning that the written characters were never seen before. Although writing had not caught on by then, it made life easier. Many believe that oracle bones weren’t the first pieces of paper, but they have no proof so nobody believes them. Most people believe that writing was invented in China during the latter half of the 2nd millennium BC and that there is no evidence to suggest the transmission of writing from elsewhere. The earliest recognizable examples of written Chinese date from 1500-950 BC (Shang dynasty) and were inscribed on ox skull and turtle shells - oracle bones. Oracle bones had many uses and were very important as paper and medicine. Although the history or oracle bones are short, it is essential in the Chinese culture from its history, materials, and characters. They were the first pieces or a written Chinese language and their characters were used later on. Yet, most people forget how important they are and forget them, but their places in the Chinese culture can never be taken away from them.

By Daniel Chou

Shang Oracle Bone [Online Image] Available at http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/images/shng-ora.jpg

Very old and not preserved Oracle Bone [Online Image] http://csymbol.com/calligraphy/oracle_inscription.html Modern Oracle Bone [Online Image] http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Oracle_bone 

**Lunar Calendar Festivities **  When most people in America think of new years, they think of January 1st, but in China a different date comes to mind. The Chinese New Year is the start of the New Year according to the Chinese calendar, which is based on the moon and sun. The celebration lasts fifteen days. This calendar’s New Year is celebrated all over the world. The Chinese New Year is unique in many ways. It has its own calendar, celebrations, and Zodiac symbols. The Chinese calendar is different from the one used by the rest of the world. While the one used in America is based on the life of Jesus Christ, the Chinese is based on the moon. The calendar is based so much on the moon that is also called the Lunar Calendar. The Lunar Calendar has been around longer then any other in history ( <span style="color: #671467; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Chinese New Year, University of Victory). <span style="color: #671467; font-family: Georgia, serif; msospacerun: yesmsoSpacerun; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msoansilanguage: EN;"> The Chinese calendar is dramatically different from most others. Therefore, the date on which it is celebrated is also different. <span style="color: #262a2c; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-size: 90%; color: #671467; font-family: Georgia, serif;"> New Years is one of China’s most celebrated holidays. Because it is so important and well known, working people in China are given vacation from work during New Years celebration. They visit with friends and family and have parties <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN;">(Chinese new year). While the festivities have changed over time, many people try to celebrate as their parents did with them when they were kids. Tradition is a big part of the celebrations and, as people moved throughout the world, they brought those traditions with them. While most places’ traditions are unique to their community, they are still carried out each year. In America, being called a pig would be taken as an insult, but in China it would simply be a reference to the year in which you were born. Every year is assigned a specific animal. That animal is the zodiac sign for anyone born in that year. “The Chinese animal signs (Chinese Zodiac) are a 12-year cycle used for dating the years” <span style="font-size: 90%; color: #671467; font-family: Georgia, serif;"> (Chinese Zodiac). <span style="font-size: 90%; color: #671467; font-family: Georgia, serif;"> There are twelve animals and they circulate so that each animal is repeated every twelve years. These symbols are used to predict personality traits and create horoscopes, much like zodiacs in America. While Chinese New Year is different than what most people think of when they think of New Years, it is very important in its own way. The Chinese calendar, festivities, and zodiac all make it unique. Although The Chinese New Year is very different than what most people in the United States are used to, it is extraordinarily important and exciting.

<span style="display: block; color: rgb(241,95,149); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">** Work Cited ** <span style="font-size: 110%; color: #f15f95; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">  Ling, Xu, and Katie Stone. "Chinese Foot Binding - Lotus Shoes." __Museum of the City of San Francisco__. Nov. 1997. 24 Feb. 2009 <http://www.sfmuseum.org/chin/foot.html>. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: #262a2c; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"><span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> "Chinese New Year." __Chinese New Year__. 19 Feb. 2009 <[].> <span style="color: #262a2c; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> "Chinese new year." __University__ __of Victoria__ __- Education - Home__. 19 Feb. 2009 [chinese_new_year.html|<http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/438/CHINA/ chinese_new_year.html]> <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> "Chinese Zodiac and Chinese Zodiac Signs." __Houston__ __Chinatown,Chinese Restaurant in Houston Guide__. 19 Feb. 2009 <http://www.chinatownconnection.com/chinese_zodiac.htm>.