观念与社会∶女子小脚的美丑与近代中国的两个世界

Ideas and Society: The Aesthetics of Bound Feet and Two Worlds of Modern China

近代中国缠足与反缠足两种观念曾长期竞争 ,至少到 2 0世纪 30年代 ,小脚美的观念在民间仍广泛存在 ,而天足女性及其家庭则往往受到社会的歧视。这样的观念有力地影响到女性在婚姻方面的选择能力和选择范围 ,由于近代社会变动导致从价值取向到生存竞争方式都有较大的差异的“两个世界”的存在 ,多数不能受教育的女性很难享受与“新世界”相伴随的社会待遇 ,缠足实际成为保障她们婚姻成功的一个基本条件 ;这样的社会因素又反过来强化了这一“世界”小脚美的观念 ,故小脚美丑的观念竞争实与生活习俗的转变伴随进行 ,主张天足美的趋新士人观念直到整体的新旧势易才最后占了上风。

Pro and anti foot binding ideals competed with each other for a long time in modern China. Since women with bound feet were discriminated against more than ordinary women, they have been severely “silenced” in historical documents. Approaching this problem from the angle of the evolution of ideology and the conflict of ideas, this article examines the concepts of foot binding in all sorts of persuasive literature from the modern period on and the changing aesthetics reflected therein. This article further analyses the relationship between social change and the evolution of ideology and the conflict of ideas. The author hopes to further our understanding of the phenomenon of modern foot binding and efforts to fight foot binding.