#cinderella’s sisters: a revisionist history of footbinding

[over-eden]

Books I’ve read in recent years that really left an impression on me:

Cinderella’s Sisters: A Revisionist History of Footbinding by Dorothy Ko - Centers around the practice of footbinding in China = young girls would have their feet broken and bound to achieive the desirable "3 inch lotus feet". This book goes into depth about the reasons why mothers bound their daugheters' feet and takes a look not just at the misogyny that created this pratice but at the way the pratice formed national identity and class status.

Every step a lotus: shoes for bound feet by Dorothy Ko - A sort of companion piece to the previous recomemndation and also by the same author. This is a book that contains a collection of photos and illustrations of lotus shoes (the type of shoes women with bound feet would wear) and the materials that would be used to break in a girl's feet. In depth book with information on how each region in China had different styles of lotus shoes and techniques for binding women’s feet.

Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film by Carol J. Clover - One of the first feminist analysis of the slasher genre of horror films. Author is the woman that coined the term "final girl". Published in 1992 so some of the analysis may be a bit out of date considering what the slasher genre is like nowadays, but still an essential book in understanding horror films and how they can be both misogynistic and feminist.

Lastly, not a radical feminist book at all but I think of this book as a "know what you are fighting against" type of recommendation:

Coming to power : writings and graphics on lesbian S/M by SAMOIS - A book on lesbian BDSM with contirbutions from SAMOIS members, an American organization that described themselves as a "lesbian feminist BDSM" group. It was eye opening to me in many ways, as before this book I had mostly only read about the feminist sex wars from authors that aligned with my own believe system. Also eye opening in that it gave me insight into these types of dynamics from a non heterosexual POV. It was tough book to get through for me but I am glad I did as I feel that it gave me a stronger argument to stand against BDSM in lesbian communities. Highly recommend for any lesbian sisters that are looking to pushback against BDSM from a lesbian focused perspective.

feminist literature

i wanna start reading more books featuring feminism/feminist topics, fiction or nonfiction so any recs??

[diamondnokouzai]

list of chinese history books everyone should read

the columbia anthology of traditional chinese literature, victor h mair

chinese civilization: a sourcebook, patricia ebrey

women and the family in chinese history, patricia ebrey

the phantom heroine: ghosts and gender in 17th century chinese literature, judith t. zeitlin

concubines, courtesans, and the cult of female chastity, beverly bossler

china's cosmopolitan empire: the tang dynasty, mark edward lewis

culture of sex in ancient china, paul rakita goldin

bound feet, young hands: tracking the demise of footbinding in village china, laurel bossen & hill gates

cinderella's sisters: a revisionist history of footbinding, dorothy ko

the red brush: writing women of imperial china, wilt l. idema beata grant

teachers of the inner chambers: women and culture in 17th century china, dorothy ko

daughter of heaven, nigel cawthorne (REALLY easy to read)

empress wu the great, x. l. woo

empress wu zetian in fiction and in history, dora shu-fang dien

[ziseviolet]

i know this doesnt exactly have to do with clothing but do you know when the practice of foot binding started? and if it was very common practice or not among the woman of that time?

Hi, thanks for the question!

I don’t know much about foot binding as I haven’t really done reading or research on it, but this is what Wikipedia has to say about the origin and prevalence of foot binding (you should definitely read the entire article if interested!):

Having possibly originated among upper-class court dancers during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in 10th century China, the practice of foot binding gradually became popular among the Chinese elite during the Song dynasty. Foot binding eventually spread to most social classes by the Qing dynasty, with the practice only ceasing to exist in the early 20th century. The practice and application of foot binding varied, with the more severe forms of binding possibly having developed in the 16th century. It has been estimated that by the 19th century, 40–50% of all Chinese women may have had bound feet, rising to almost 100% in upper-class Chinese women.

The prevalence and practice of foot binding varied in different parts of the country, with the feet of young women bound to raise their marriage prospects in some areas. 

There is additional information and discussion in my footbinding tag, so please check that out as well. Commonly recommended books on foot binding include:

Cinderella’s Sisters: A Revisionist History of Footbinding by Dorothy Ko

Every Step a Lotus: Shoes for Bound Feet by Dorothy Ko

If any followers have more information or recs, please do share. Hope this helps!

(hanfu photo via duitang)

[thefeastandthefast]

@fishylife tagged me to list my top 10 books of 2020.

This year has been an utter ratking and I can’t remember half the stuff I read or listened to in desultory attempts to distract myself from the obliteration of normalcy as we knew it. This is more a record of books that actually managed to penetrate the dense mental fog enough to actually claim some space in my magpie mind. In no particular order:

My Brilliant Friend - Elena Ferrante

Hands down, the best goddamn novel I read this year. To use a tumblr cliché for a book that crushes clichés about female friendship, about southern Italy, about coming-of-age stories- Lila and Lenù will live permanently rent-free in my head from now on.

Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik

A Eastern European Jewish reimagining of Rumplestiltskin with winter fae and a touch of katabasis. I felt like a kid again, wanting to know what happens next, thoroughly entertained by a well-told story that makes familiar fantasy tropes feel fresh. The time jump ending felt rushed but overall I had a great time reading this.

The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia - Megan Whalen Turner

These taut, clever, and unexpectedly moving books got me interested in reading fantasy again. I had forgotten how transporting well-written fantasy could be, how immersive and pleasurable.   

Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi

This book was a bit uneven, as stories told from multiple POVs often are, but I couldn’t put it down. After getting brief glimpses into the lives of descendants of the same 18th century Asante woman, I wanted more, since so many of the characters’ stories could have filled their own novels. Still, I really enjoyed this ambitious intergenerational journey through time and space.

Know My Name: A Memoir - Chanel Miller

Chanel Miller is a woman in full, formidable command of her art challenging us to bear witness and it’s devastating, in the best way. A friend who had never read her victim impact statement before overheard just a few snippets of the audiobook and was so gripped by her use of language that he now plans on teaching her writing in future linguistics courses. 

Cinderella’s Sisters: A Revisionist History of Footbinding - Dorothy Ko

Dorothy Ko writes engaging feminist history because she is especially attuned to the value of material culture in illuminating the lives of Chinese women. The bound foot itself is culture embodied; created for myriad social purposes and now co-opted as a symbol for myriad purposes. (Reminder to self to read The Body as Material Culture by Joanna Sofaer.) This is an incredibly tough topic to cover without tipping into either apologetics in the name of cultural relativism or savior complex polemics- because it involves such a stomach-churning, politicized historical practice and because of the dearth of primary sources from women. Ko manages it with graceful scholarship. The most fascinating chapter was “The Body Inside Out: The Practice of Fangzu, 1900s–1930s”, which described the waning days of the practice and the sociopolitical upheavals that completely altered almost overnight the priorities of the educated class that had always dictated cultural norms. For women with bound feet, resolving the tension between their carefully and permanently altered bodies and a society that suddenly had no room for what those bodies represented was a task that demanded of them an unimaginable amount of investment in that new society. Just an unbearably poignant chapter. 

Story of the Stone: Volume 1, The Golden Days - Cao Xueqin, translated by David Hawkes

I’m slowly working my way through the first volume of five. The David Hawkes translation does indeed live up to its reputation as the foremost English translation of the classic novel also known as Dream of the Red Chamber/Dream of Red Mansions. 

Disclaimer: I’ve not read the original Chinese because this book is far too long to enjoy if I have to read it with the Pleco dictionary glued to my hand but I did read the Gladys Yang and Yang Xianyi translation when I was fifteen. I was enthralled by the story but I do recall the Yangs’ prose being more old-fashioned. The Hawkes translation is actually fun to read and preserves the feeling of vernacular Chinese, which is so important for such a landmark work written in the vernacular and not classical Chinese. I hugely appreciate the poetry, which is such an integral part of the original text and nigh untranslatable. He’s also done an admirable job of conveying the distinct personalities of the huge cast of characters (they feel so alive!) and clarifying the intricacies of the many relationships. The appeal of Jia Baoyu, in particular, had always been difficult for me to understand, but he comes off as such a deeply and sincerely emotional weirdo here that I can’t help but be charmed. And so many complicated, fascinating, sometimes objectively terrible women. Wang Xifeng is a total masterpiece of characterization.

Lacquer: Technology and Conservation - Marianne Webb

I worked on Chinese lacquer for the first time at the beginning of this year and this book saved me on multiple occasions. 

EDITED TO TAG @saltr0se @zerogravitykitty @drivingsideways @seeorseem @rocknghorss @rughydrangea @straydogsandsaranghaes @thatlittleegyptologist (No pressure, y’all!)

[audreydoeskaren]

Thank you for posting a review on the book Evolution & Revolution Chinese Dress 1700s - 1990s. It’s so disappointing how the book potentially could’ve been good. What are your favorite books on Chinese fashion history?

Hi, great that you found the review useful! To be completely honest, I haven't really read any books on Chinese fashion before I started this blog, because I mostly used online resources like museums' websites, archaeology reports and other blogs. I actually started this blog in the hopes that people might recommend me some books😅 And I only ever read about the Ming, Qing and republican era so my knowledge is very limited.

Anyway, here are some books people recommended to me that I found great, some that I'm currently reading and some I know to be objectively good:

Ming Dynasty

Q版大明衣冠图志 (2011) 董进著

A classic made by the popular fashion history blogger 撷芳主��� (real name Dong Jin), this book is the ultimate compilation of Ming Dynasty looks illustrated by the most adorable drawings. It has basically everything you need to know about Ming Dynasty garments from informal civilian fashion and theater costumes to the most formal court dress and military uniforms. My only quibble with this book is that it doesn’t specify the decade/year each look is from, giving the false impression that everything could be worn throughout the Ming Dynasty (I heard that he did specify some eras in the new version? I don’t have it so I’m not sure). You can follow the author on Weibo where he regularly posts stuff about the Ming Dynasty, or check out other books and articles written by him. Even if you don’t have the book, you could probably find images of individual entries on the internet. Unfortunately all of it is in Chinese and no English version is available :(

华夏衣冠 中国古代服饰文化 (2016) 孙机著

More of a collection of essays Sun Ji wrote on historical Chinese clothing from a variety of eras, I got it for the chapters on Ming Dynasty xiapei 霞帔 and headwear. Professional, academic language that is still easy to read, plenty of references and neatly traced line drawings of artifacts. Useful diagrams on the structure of 狄髻 diji. However if I remember correctly, Sun had some beef with Dong Jin on the terminology of parts of diji, not sure if that was ever resolved; here’s an article about that. Also only in Chinese (that I know of).

Qing Dynasty

Chinese Reverse Glass Painting 1720-1820 (2020) by Thierry Audric

This is the book form transcript of a dissertation given by the author in 2016. It's more Chinese painting than Chinese fashion but has a lot of wonderful images of 18th century export paintings (with dates even), which depicted fashion realistically. I love 18th century export art in general, they're really beautiful and unusual so I would recommend everybody to check them out. I love this because Chinese oil painting outside of a court context (and all other forms of art that were not literati painting e.g. woodblock print, lithograph, pen and ink illustration) gets very little attention from Chinese art historians. This book could be downloaded for free in pdf form the publisher Peter Lang.

A Fashionable Century: Textile Artistry and Commerce in the Late Qing (2020) by Rachel Silberstein

This book focuses on the 19th century and has some interesting insights on the impact of commercial workshops on Qing fashion, which is a welcome break from the “dragon robes” and women’s domestic work stereotyped in most literature on the Qing. It has rich descriptions of the decoration patterns and fabrics used in the 19th century, accompanied by paintings and photographs. It did kind of fall into the trap of “the late Ming continued into the early Qing” and just dismissed the 18th century altogether, which is a shame. Silberstein’s dating of several prints also appears somewhat incorrect, but it’s still a very useful analysis of the 19th century nonetheless. I read this for free on JSTOR through my university login.

Cinderella’s Sisters: A Revisionist History of Footbinding (2005) by Dorothy Ko

This book is absolutely epic and an undeniable classic on the subject. Ko masterfully avoids all the surface level problematic takes on footbinding and offers an extremely nuanced, extremely well researched overview on the history of footbinding in the Ming, Qing and republican eras, the reasons for its popularity and demise, with a most interesting analysis of the problems with the way people in the republican era went about the abolition of it. The book is more heavy on the social analysis side but also contains a lot of factual description of the process of footbinding, styles popular in different eras etc. I just love how she approaches the topic in the most factual and non-emotionally charged way possible, which is refreshing considering the sheer volume of literature on footbinding that is just brainless condemnation without any nuance, a lot of which also unconsciously perpetuate misogynistic ideas rather than combat them. I don’t know of a way to read this for free, I bought it from Amazon.

Every Step a Lotus (2001) by Dorothy Ko

I haven’t read this yet but apparently it works well as a supplement to Cinderella’s Sisters. Also on footbinding.

China Trade Painting 1750s to 1880s (2014) by Jack S C Lee / 中国外销画 1750s - 1880s 李世庄著

Another book on export art, focusing more on the established painters. Lee digs a bit more into the painters’ experiences and biographies, with big portions on George Chinnery and Lam Qua, but also includes plenty of portraits and scenery paintings depicting men’s clothing and the architecture of the studios at the Guangzhou factories (十三行). It’s great because the paintings included were super realistic and well made with accurate proportions and anatomy----the quality on a par with those produced by the European academies----so they contemplate conventional Chinese portraits made in the same era in showing how the clothing fits on the body. Again I bought this book second hand from Amazon.

----

I don’t know of any reliable books for republican era fashion because for some reasons most discourse on it is centered around the glorification and mystification of the cheongsam... Fortunately, due to the abundance of extant originals and photographs, books are largely not necessary for the research of republican era fashion :3

There are some other books and articles that were recommended to me but I haven’t yet read: x, x

@fouryearsofshades also made a post recently recommending books and it covers other time periods as well.

If anyone knows any other books on the Ming, Qing or republican era please tell me regardless of good or bad. I need to read more😅

[clarencevrangr]

And yet some Chineses feminists of the end of the XIXe wanted to let the women decide by themselves about their foot. Did you hear about Xue Shaohui ? She was against every form of contraignant law about the footbinding. The anti-footbinding movement was principally a masculine movement. They didn’t really consider the pain of footbinding but see footbinding women as the weakness of China. In 1898, Kang Youwei write to the emperor :

« There is nothing which makes us objects of ridicule so much as footbinding... With posterity so weakened, how can we engage in battle? I look at Europeans and Americans, so strong and vigorous because their mothers do not bind feet and therefore have strong offspring. »

So, a lot of this men wanted to punish footbinding women if they didn’t liberate their foot. Unbinding the foot once you are an adult was a pain far far harder than binding the foot when you are young. Women could almost die of unbinding foot, they could lost the possibility of walk without broking their bones at every step.

At last, to force footbinding women to unbound their foot was cruel. The movement didn’t need to do that, they only had to look at the little girls and prevent their binding.

If you want more information about footbinding you can read « Cinderella’s Sisters, a revisionist history of footbinding » by Dorothy Ko. It’s a classic.

Some women like to be burned at the stake! Don’t stake shame them UwU