Ancient traditions: Chinese "lotus feet" as a guarantee of a happy marriage

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Chinese girls from an early age knew exactly what would provide them with a comfortable life and a brilliant marriage. "Lotus Feet" is a pass to a happy life for every girl. That is why parents from an early age used a special way to bandage the legs of their daughters, making sure that the foot was as small as possible. The British photographer managed to capture women who experienced all the delights of this ancient Chinese tradition.

British photographer Joe Farrell is one of the very few who managed to capture in the photo what the "lotus leg" of Chinese women looks like. The tradition of leg bandaging was practiced in China from the 10th to the early 20th century. As a rule, little Chinese women began to bandage their legs in a special way from 4-5 years old. After soaking in warm herbal infusion and animal blood, fingers were pressed to the sole and tightly tied with cotton bandages.

It was believed that it would be better if the parents did not bandage the feet, since they could not tighten the bandages with the necessary force out of a feeling of pity.

By the age of 10, they had formed a "lotus leg", after which they were taught the correct "adult" gait. Three more years, and they became maidens "for marriageable".

The size of a Chinese woman's foot was an important factor in marriage. A bride with a large, not disfigured leg was humiliated and ridiculed. They immediately entered the register of commoners who must work in the field and therefore cannot afford to bandage my legs.

When choosing a bride, the groom's parents were primarily interested in the size of the girl's legs, and only then how she looks.

It was the “lotus leg” that was considered the main dignity of the bride. And while bandaging the legs, the mothers consoled their daughters, talking about the dazzling prospects of marriage, which directly depend on the beauty of the leg.

Since the 1600s, this tradition has been repeatedly tried to ban, but it lasted until the beginning of the 20th century. Here is what Chinese men said about the owners of "lotus feet":

Photographer Joe Farrell set out to find women with lotus feet in China. In a remote village in Shandong province, he managed to find an old woman, Zhang Yun Ying, who had had her legs bandaged since childhood. And she turned out to be not the only one - two more of her friends lived in the village, possessing

Also in the village lived two more of her friends, who underwent such procedures in childhood, but they refused to be photographed.

The Brit persuaded Zhang Yun Ying to photograph her legs and presented the photographs in an exhibition at the Hoopers Gallery in London in 2006. After that, he sent catalogs from the exhibition to China, and the elderly Chinese girlfriends also agreed to a photo shoot in 2007.

This generation of women has gone through incredible times: leg bandages, the Cultural Revolution, the Japanese invasion and famine. Already in our time, they attracted special attention of society and felt rejected, although in their childhood and youth, according to them, such a practice was the most common practice. Everyone wanted to get married successfully and provide themselves with a secure life.