The Secret Files of Forbidden City

[holyman]

foot binding was popular among the han chinese population in qing dynasty bcos during the time of kangxi's father, emperor shunzhi, the majority han chinese were forced to give up their traditional costumes, shave their foreheads and wear pigtails. foot binding wasnt that popular during ming dynasty. but after the ban on han costumes took effect it became the last reminder of the han costumes and were strongly preserved by the han population.

[bhchao]

Kangxi was not the only Qing emperor who tried to ban footbinding. There were later attempts to ban the practice, but it was too popular among the Han women.

I thought footbinding was already popular during Ming. The Mongols loved the idea of footbinding and even encouraged it during the Yuan dynasty. The Ming took it one step further by allowing it to rapidly grow.

The Manchus have to be given credit for their attempts to ban this grotesque practice. They were 180 degrees opposite from the Yuan and Ming in this respect. The Qing rulers forbade Manchu women from practicing footbinding, and tried unsuccessfully to ban it among the Han women.

There were three characteristics which the Manchus distinguished themselves from the Han; costume, hairstyles, and footbinding. Although the Manchus adopted many Chinese customs and practices, they set a fine line in those three areas. They loathed Chinese costumes and hairstyles. Since all Chinese men were wearing Ming costumes and sporting Ming hairstyles, the Qing required them to discard the traditional dress and wear queues.

The queues made the men look like sissies. Yet I fully support the Qing's attempts to ban footbinding.

There were several problems with Kangxi's 1664 ban. Not only was it difficult to enforce, but families would often falsely accuse each other of footbinding out of vengeance. Also making sure everyone is abiding by this new law is impossible. It is unrealistic to go into each household and inspect everyone's feets. Finally it was extremely popular among the Han women.

So Kangxi had to retract the ban in 1668. Manchu women continued to not bind their feets. Many Han Chinese still had a nostalgia for the costumes and hairstyles of the Ming. When Kangxi was forced to repeal the ban, many Chinese men saw it as a victory for women since women got to keep one of their Ming customs!