Foot binding - Tensoku

A type of body modification for women, a custom unique to China. Usually, the feet of girls aged 3 or 4 are tightly bound with bandage-like cloth (mainly cotton) to stop the growth of the feet and give them an unnatural shape. First, the feet are wrapped horizontally to make them long and thin, then vertically, and the second toe and below are bent toward the bottom of the foot to give them a pointed diamond shape. The size of the feet remains at about 3 to 4 sun (10 to 13 centimeters), and the basic shape is established by the age of 5 or 6, after which the cloth is removed and the girl is made to wear foot-binding shoes. It is relatively easy to perform this when the child is young, but when performed a little older, it causes inflammation and suppuration, which is extremely painful, and it is said that it is difficult to obtain the delicate shape. Foot binding is also called kinren (golden lotus) or shunjun (spring bamboo shoots, meaning spring bamboo shoots, based on its shape), and it is said that the more similar its shape is to rice dumplings, the better, and there was a custom of feeding the person rice dumplings on the day the bandages were first wrapped. There is a legend about its origin, which goes back to when Daki, the wife of King Chu of the Shang Dynasty, was transformed into a fox and wrapped her feet in cloth to hide the fact that only her feet were not human, and this was imitated by the ladies of the imperial court, but it is actually said to have become popular after the Song Dynasty. Before that, it was practiced among women who made a living as singers and dancers, and it is thought that the background to this is the female obsession with feet seen in the Tang Dynasty. The benefits of foot binding include an aesthetic effect in which the bones become thinner, making the entire female body appear delicate and slender, and because standing upright is unstable, the heels are fixed and the toes turned outward. This walking style resembles the walking of a duck, which has been popular with men. There is also a theory that it promotes special development of the sexual organs, and another that it was used to restrain women and protect their chastity. In the past, it was said that women without bound feet could not get married and that men would not find them attractive, and this custom of bodily modification was deeply rooted in the sense of beauty and ugliness. In northern China, there is a custom of holding a saisoku (foot) ceremony on festival days, where women with bound feet would sit at the entrance of their houses and have passersby take a look at their feet, which was an opportunity to find a good partner. The custom of foot binding is not seen among minority groups, and even among the Han people, it is not practiced much in some areas. During the Qing dynasty, bans were issued frequently, but to little effect, and towards the end of the period, a movement to abolish the custom arose among the general public, and today the custom has disappeared.

[Tamura Katsumi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

女性に対する身体変工の一種で、中国独特の風習。普通3、4歳の女児の足を包帯状の布（おもに木綿）でしっかりと縛り、足の成長を止めて、その形を不自然にする。最初横巻きにして足を細長くし、次に縦に巻き、第2指以下を足の裏側へ折り曲げて先のとがった菱形(ひしがた)にする。足の大きさは3～4寸（10～13センチメートル）ぐらいにとどまり、5～6歳ぐらいには形の基礎もできるので、以後布を取り去り、纏足用の鞋(くつ)を履かせる。幼少のころに行うのは比較的容易であるが、やや長じて行うと炎症や化膿(かのう)をおこし非常な苦痛を伴い、また繊細な形を得るのがむずかしいという。纏足は、金蓮(きんれん)や春笋(しゅんじゅん)（形から春の竹の子の意）ともよばれ、その形はまた粽(ちまき)に似るほどよいといわれ、最初に包帯を巻く日に粽を食べさせる風習があった。起源については、殷(いん)の紂王(ちゅうおう)の妃(きさき)妲己(だっき)が狐(きつね)の変化(へんげ)で、足だけが人でないのを隠すために布で足を包み、これを宮中の婦人に倣わせたなどの伝説があるが、実際には宋(そう)代以後に流行したものといわれる。それ以前に歌舞を事とする女性の間に行われ、また唐代にみられる女性の足への嗜好(しこう)が背景にあったと考えられる。纏足の効用として、骨が細くなる結果、女性の体全体が繊細で華奢(きゃしゃ)になる美的効果があげられ、直立姿勢の不安定から、足のかかとを固定してつまさきを外に開く形をとることになる。この歩き方は、アヒルの歩くような姿であり、それが男性に喜ばれてきたという。性器官の特殊の発達を促すとの説もあり、また婦女の貞節を守るため拘束する目的もいわれた。かつては纏足をしないと嫁入りができず、男性が魅力を感じないといわれ、この身体変工の風習が美醜の感覚に深く根を下ろしていた。華北の地では節句に、賽足(さいそく)（脚）会といって、纏足の女性が家の門口に腰をかけて、その足を通る人に見てもらう風習があり、良縁を得る機会であった。纏足の風習は、少数民族にみられず、漢民族のなかでもあまり行われない地方もある。清(しん)代にしばしば禁令が出されたがあまり効果なく、その末期になって民間から廃止の運動がおこり、今日この風習は滅びている。

［田村克己］

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