Two sets of assumptions surrounding the Manchus and footbinding have crept into the historiography of the Qing period. A first set of assumptions claims that the Manchus attempted to ban footbinding among civilian Han...Two sets of assumptions surrounding the Manchus and footbinding have crept into the historiography of the Qing period. A first set of assumptions claims that the Manchus attempted to ban footbinding among civilian Han on repeated occasions after the conquest but failed due to women＇s resistance. Moreover, Qing attempts to ban footbinding made binding into a politically charged ethnic marker that embodied for Han anti-Manchu and anti-Qing sentiments and caused the bans to backfire and footbinding to spread further. A second set of assumptions claims that the overwhelming cultural allure and popularity of footbinding proved irresistible to banner women, who, thwarted by banner regulations forbidding the practice, covertly imitated footbinding by wearing platform shoes that hid natural feet and created an illusion of smallness. This paper scrutinizes the evidence put forward by Qing historians for the first of these two sets of assumptions. The claims are found to be unsubstantiated and evidence is offered that contradicts them. I argue that the weight of evidence shows that there was no prohibition on footbinding imposed in 1645 or at any time during the Manchu conquest, and that a 1664 proposal to ban footbinding was withdrawn before it could be implemented, for reasons misunderstood by historians offootbinding. Therefore there could have been no ＂resistance＂ by Han women or men to a ban on footbinding, and claims that footbinding became a politically charged ethnic marker of anti-Qing sentiment in the seventeenth century are groundless. With regard to the second set of assumptions, I provide evidence in a separate paper to be published elsewhere that banner women had distinctive roles and fashions uninfluenced by the culture of footbinding, and that in Beijing and the Northeast Manchu styles were emulated by Han, not vice versa.展开更多
This article discusses four major transformations that took place in China during the Republican period from 1912 to 1949. The imperial institution fell and was replaced by a republican form of government. Changes in ...This article discusses four major transformations that took place in China during the Republican period from 1912 to 1949. The imperial institution fell and was replaced by a republican form of government. Changes in the writing style took place. The new colloquial style pulled people away from the idea of searching the past for answers to future questions. Popular culture changed. Men abandoned the queue and long gown, women forgot about footbinding. New technologies brought new ways of life to most Chinese and, surprisingly, many of the despotic warlords adopted telegraphs, railroads, and automobiles. By the 1950s, China had changed, but in a manner very similar to the rest of the world. In that sense China in the Republican period was in the mainstream of modern change.展开更多
文摘Two sets of assumptions surrounding the Manchus and footbinding have crept into the historiography of the Qing period. A first set of assumptions claims that the Manchus attempted to ban footbinding among civilian Han on repeated occasions after the conquest but failed due to women＇s resistance. Moreover, Qing attempts to ban footbinding made binding into a politically charged ethnic marker that embodied for Han anti-Manchu and anti-Qing sentiments and caused the bans to backfire and footbinding to spread further. A second set of assumptions claims that the overwhelming cultural allure and popularity of footbinding proved irresistible to banner women, who, thwarted by banner regulations forbidding the practice, covertly imitated footbinding by wearing platform shoes that hid natural feet and created an illusion of smallness. This paper scrutinizes the evidence put forward by Qing historians for the first of these two sets of assumptions. The claims are found to be unsubstantiated and evidence is offered that contradicts them. I argue that the weight of evidence shows that there was no prohibition on footbinding imposed in 1645 or at any time during the Manchu conquest, and that a 1664 proposal to ban footbinding was withdrawn before it could be implemented, for reasons misunderstood by historians offootbinding. Therefore there could have been no ＂resistance＂ by Han women or men to a ban on footbinding, and claims that footbinding became a politically charged ethnic marker of anti-Qing sentiment in the seventeenth century are groundless. With regard to the second set of assumptions, I provide evidence in a separate paper to be published elsewhere that banner women had distinctive roles and fashions uninfluenced by the culture of footbinding, and that in Beijing and the Northeast Manchu styles were emulated by Han, not vice versa.
文摘This article discusses four major transformations that took place in China during the Republican period from 1912 to 1949. The imperial institution fell and was replaced by a republican form of government. Changes in the writing style took place. The new colloquial style pulled people away from the idea of searching the past for answers to future questions. Popular culture changed. Men abandoned the queue and long gown, women forgot about footbinding. New technologies brought new ways of life to most Chinese and, surprisingly, many of the despotic warlords adopted telegraphs, railroads, and automobiles. By the 1950s, China had changed, but in a manner very similar to the rest of the world. In that sense China in the Republican period was in the mainstream of modern change.
