Footbinding

I cant sleep, still wide awake at 3am in the morning. Probably I took a nap in the afternoon. So I decided to read the current novel I am really into. It's called 'Snow Flower and the secret Fan' by Lisa See. It was such a heartbreaking story which takes place in 19th century China when girls had their feet bound. At that time, bound feet were a status symbol, the only way for a woman to marry into money. Women in these era were basically not allowed to have want they want. They were not allowed to  express their thoughts or show their emotions. The more tiny feet they has, the better chances of them marrying a richer family. In this novel, the writer talk about 'nu shu', 'women's writing' – the only gender-based written language to have been found in the world. It was in one remote county where the women developed their own secret code. The writer has done a brilliant job on bringing the readers to such a realistic journey back to an era of Chinese history which touches many hearts. I am curious to find out more on her other novels, 'Dragon Bones', 'The Interior', 'Flower Net' and 'On Gold Mountain'. 



It was very interesting to read more on footbinding. It had been practiced on young girls and women for approximately one thousand years in China. The process of the footbinding can be very eerie. The broke the girls' toes and binding them underneath the sole of the foot with bandages. Infections were very common and some died of septic shock. 

Footbinding was first banned in 1912, but some continued binding their feet in secret. Wow, can you imagine if we still have this footbinding custom now? I can't, it is so barbaric...