Foot binding, this practice, existed as early as the Song Dynasty, and certainly in the Ming Dynasty, but the people of Great Ming did not resent the Song or the Ming; instead, they harbored hatred for my Tartar Qing.
Reviewing relevant records, almost all attribute the current state of foot binding to Neo-Confucianism, while some point to the Ming Dynasty. However, according to the Yuan Dynasty notes "Zhan Yuan Jing Yu," "The women in Cheng Yichuan's family did not bind their feet nor pierce their ears. Empress Liu of the Later Tang did not wear shoes when she fled. It is thus known that noblewomen of the Song and Five Dynasties did not all bind their feet."
In his "Jiao Qi Ji," Che Ruoshui of the Southern Song Dynasty recorded, "No one knows when women began to bind their feet. Little children, not yet four or five years old, innocent and guiltless, are made to suffer infinite pain. They endure pain from a young age, but to what end?"
Che Ruoshui was a third-generation disciple of Zhu Xi, and the foot binding of the Song Dynasty was called "Kuai Shang Ma" (快上马), which meant to bind the female feet more slender and straight, and it was far from the style of foot binding in my Tartar Qing era.
This point can be proven by the unearthed shoes and socks from the Song and Ming periods.
Elizabeth Berger, a postdoctoral fellow in Sinology at the University of Michigan, studied samples from Ming Dynasty tombs excavated near Yangguanzhai site in Xi'an. The bones around the heels had tarsal bones, and although their size was slightly reduced, the change was not significant.
Berger said, "This suggests that foot binding may have become more extreme during the Qing Dynasty over time."
Christine Lee, an anthropologist at UCLA, has also been studying archaeological evidence of foot binding dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties, found at the Xuecun archaeological site in Henan Province.
"From the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the rate of women's foot binding seems to have increased, which aligns with historical knowledge of foot binding."
Furthermore, basic records of foot binding in the Ming Dynasty are virtually non-existent, which is the biggest doubt. Secondly, the skeletal remains of Ming Dynasty female corpses excavated all show normal feet!
Conversely, Fang Xuan's "Xiang Lian Pin Zao" (香莲品藻) contains poems and essays appraising women's small feet; Li Yu's "Li Weng Ou Ji" (笠翁偶集) is rich with information on foot binding; Yuan Mei's "Chan Zu Tan" (缠足谈) is another specialized work discussing the aesthetic beauty of foot binding; Xie Zhao's "Wen Hai Pi Chao" (文海披钞) includes an essay on foot binding; Shen Defu's "Bi Zhi Zhai Yu Tan" (敝帚斋余谈) also extensively discusses foot binding; Xu Zhen's "Mei Ren Pu" (美人谱) consists of writings about women with small feet. (All these literati were talents of my Tartar Qing.)
Additionally, Qian Yong's "Lu Yuan Cong Hua · Guo Zu" (履园丛话·裹足) states, "The smallest feet are found in the regions of Yan, Zhao, Qi, Lu, Qin, and Jin."
Fogel's "Ting Yu Cong Tan" (听雨丛谈) says, "Nowadays, throughout China, everyone rushes towards it as if mad. Only the women of the Eight Banners do not bind their feet. In the inner city of the capital, five or six out of ten civilian girls do not bind their feet, and three or four out of ten in the countryside do not bind their feet. In the Eastern and Western Yue, Wu, Anhui, Yunnan, and Guizhou provinces, most women in the countryside do not bind their feet. Outside of these provinces, women invariably bind their feet. This custom is most prevalent in Shan, Shaanxi, and Gansu."
It can be seen that even in the mid-Qing Dynasty, foot binding was prevalent only in the northern regions, while southern women mostly did not bind their feet. This is quite strange, as legend has it that foot binding originated in the Southern Tang, and became popular in the Southern Song, both of which were small southern courts.
Yet, in the mid-Qing, it was more popular in the north, while in the south, "most women in the countryside do not bind their feet"?
Some people also say that my Tartar Qing opposed foot binding, citing the Qing court's imperial edicts: "All women born in this era are strictly forbidden from foot binding," and Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang once issued an edict prohibiting Han women with bound feet from entering the palace, with death as the penalty for violation.
However, the so-called edict prohibiting foot binding originates from the records in the "Qing Shi Gao" (清史稿), with the date of this edict being 1642... Chongzhen hanged himself on Coal Hill in 1644, and it is unclear in what capacity this edict was issued.
Furthermore, according to records, Emperor Xianfeng had four concubines with bound feet who were greatly favored. These four concubines could not enter the palace due to the ancestral laws set by Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, so Xianfeng kept them in the Yuanmingyuan – Xianfeng spent as long as ten months of the year residing in the gardens, and favoring concubines with bound feet was a significant reason.
To summarize, my Tartar Qing, while appearing to prohibit foot binding, vigorously promoted it – women with bound feet have restricted mobility, so would men consider rebellion?
(Some people like to whitewash my Tartar Qing or fawn over the American imperialists. I am presenting the records of ancient people from the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties, as well as the research of your American fathers, so please don't say I am slandering your Tartar Qing masters. Additionally, the above materials do not count towards the word count and are not charged.)
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The foot binding, which my Tartar Qing painstakingly promoted for over a hundred years, vanished as soon as the news of Zhu Jinsong preparing to select an empress spread. It didn't even require a special "Order to Prohibit Foot Binding."
After all, the common people are not foolish. Without my Tartar Qing secretly orchestrating things, like organizing "small foot competitions" or similar events, naturally, no one would willingly risk offending Great Ming law and losing the opportunity to enter the palace by binding their feet.
Of course, it cannot be said to have completely disappeared. After all, women are such a creature, and there are many who would bind their own feet, making them slender and delicate, much like the women in Europa who enjoy waist-cinching – even though many European women lost their lives due to waist-cinching, they still indulged in it with gusto, cinching what they should and what they shouldn't.
Of course, this matter has nothing to do with Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of Great Ming.
What truly concerned Zhu Jinsong was the reform of Great Ming's marriage laws – Great Ming law stipulated that for any marriage between a man and a woman, the man must be at least twenty years old, and the woman at least eighteen years old, with severe penalties for violations.
"Youthful blood is vigorous, and coupled with the admiration of the opposite sex, desires can be overwhelming. If intercourse is excessive, it is like flowers in a garden; blooming early inevitably leads to withering."
The ancestors had long researched this matter clearly. Although various dynasties did not formulate concepts like eugenics and good childcare, they had been practicing this.
Yet, in my Tartar Qing, it was common for men and women to marry at twelve or thirteen years old – if one says that my Tartar Qing did not secretly fuel this, then even a dog would not believe it.
What Zhu Jinsong was concerned about was precisely the public's acceptance of the marriage age restrictions stipulated in "Great Ming Law · Household Law · Marriage."
Besides this, another matter that concerned Zhu Jinsong was the current situation of my Tartar Qing and Joseon.
One must admit that in this world of mutual decline, there are always some existences that decline to a high degree, with a certain level of decadence, such as Joseon.
Ever since Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself from the crooked necked tree on Coal Hill, Joseon, which styled itself as a filial son of Great Ming, had been clamoring to rebel against the Qing and restore the Ming. Even though they outwardly paid tribute to my Tartar Qing, they secretly continued to use Chongzhen's reign title.
However, Joseon's decadence is truly beyond ordinary – they shouted slogans of anti-Qing and pro-Ming restoration for over a century and paid tribute to my Tartar Qing for over a century, yet never once truly raised an army.
It wasn't until the old dog Qianlong sent troops to Joseon, directly disorienting the Joseon King Yi San.
After failing to get help from Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of Great Ming, King Yi San of Joseon simply gave up and surrendered directly to my Tartar Qing!
Yes, that's right, he surrendered directly.
According to King Yi San of Joseon, Joseon was already enfeoffed by the Tartar Qing, and they must have done something wrong to provoke the Emperor of Great Qing to send heavenly troops to subjugate Joseon. Moreover, Joseon's military strength was weak, and even if they wanted to resist, they couldn't. It was better to lie down obediently and enjoy it, and to know where they went wrong early so they could correct it.
This kind of utterly nonsensical rhetoric shocked the entire Joseon.