Tag: Foot binding
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Chinese footbinding: A millennium of mutilation
Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “Foot binding is the most incendiary and least controversial subject in modern Chinese history.”1– Dorothy Ko, professor of History and Women’s Studies, Barnard College Foot binding was practiced in China from the tenth century through most of the twentieth century. It involved breaking the bones and tightly binding the feet of young…
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Restraint: A foot-binding story
Daniel WongPalo Alto, California, United States My grandmother is with me. She sits perched on the edge of the bed, where I’m lying with my feet propped up by pillows. My feet hurt from running. I’ve asked her to tell me another story, and for a moment she looks back down at her Chinese newspaper.…