Footbinding
http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=60839
Childhood memories
Feet
by
Hu Shilan.
by Ye Xia oluan.
Remember those bygone days in the depth of my inner chambers,
They say lotuses blossom as she moves her feet
Fragrant
pieces
jade
adornedher
myskir
tender
skin.
But they can’t
b eof
seen
underneath
t,
My
little
maid
stood
by
me
under
canopy
of
flowers,
Her jade toes so thi n and slender,
Imprintin
g her
as sheslip
pauses.
So
that my
tinyfragran
shoest name
wouldn’t
on moss so green.
Her
pure
chi
ffon
skir
t
swirls
in
a
dance,
Little did I know that in mid-life I would have to roam around,
Steadfastthe
as the
ne w moon.
Braving
scorching
sun and furious storms.
Her light sil k garment sways in soft, flowing motions,
As she kicks her jade hook hal f-way up.
[Consort Yang] lef t her stocking behind at Mawei,
Adding to th e remorse of the Tang emper or;
At the banks o f the Luo River the goddess treads elegantly,
Bringing sadness to Cao Zhi.
In response to Ye Xiaoluan’s poem
by Shen Yixiu.
They say she leaves her footprint on the green moss lightly,
Only as she stands alone, lost in thought.
He hears tinkling of jade ornaments from afar,
Only because she shifts her bound feet slightly.
The slender, slender feet, creating lotuses at every step,
The Duke of Donghun cannot but be indulgent.
The slim, slim socks as they move,
Inspire the pity of Cao Zhi in his verse.
As spring befalls the emperor’s garden,
The fallen petals make a fitting companion.
As she walks the treasure house in the moon,
the fragrant greens become more lovely.
"...Very rarely would a Chinese man
ever see a bound foot without the
white bandages covering it. He
might know what every other part
of the woman's body looked like,
including the genitals. Her body
was very real to him, but the feet
were literally shrouded in mystery.
..." p. 107
Splendid Slippers: A Thousand Years of an Erotic Tradition
New book by Beverley Jackson
Venetian Footbinding: the twenty-inches chopines