The Raft might take as long as four to six hours to complete. There were different names for the ways in which throws got into the shoe. A direct throw into the shoe was called a Passing Star, while five successful throws at one turn were called Five Pearls. The most difficult achievement was to have the seed or bean hit the point of the shoe and then go in. If this happened, it was rewarded the same way as were five good throws. If a throw hit the basin first and then entered the shoe, it was counted twice and called a Flying Star Entering the Moon. It was considered an offense to make a throw outside the basin area or cause the shoe to move or turn over; the offender had to take additional drinks, by order of the Recording Secretary. If a winner had five good tosses but a loser only two, the latter had to take three drinks. But no one had to drink more than five cups at any one time, and this, according to our author, removed the danger of intoxication. “The winner allows the loser to drink as a sign of politeness to him. The game is conducted by gentlemen according to the rules; there is no boisterousness or undue emotional display.”
There was another game besides the Raft which featured drinking from a cup placed in a prostitute’s shoe. The actual shoe was handed from one participant to another, and as it was received each counted one day until the thirtieth day was reached. Each person had to hold the shoe in a certain position, which differed with the day. The shoe might be held up, down, by the toe or heel, level or raised on high, or even concealed under the table.
This complex way of playing was described in song:
For the even days, speak in a high voice, but for the odd days in a low voice. On the third day, hold the shoe like a new moon; on the eighth day, reverse the shoe like a man facing downwards; on the fifteenth day, point the shoe outwards and on an incline; on the twenty-third day, hold it level; on the last day, turn the glass over, but on the first day turn it up again.
Famous prostitutes of nearly a century ago, noted for facial beauty as well as tiny feet
The player who moved the shoe incorrectly according to the specific day represented had to drink as his penalty, and then repeat the procedure correctly. If he were sufficiently intoxicated or simply forgot what had to be done, he probably repeated the error over and over again. These games, usually joined in by relatives and close friends, might last from noon to night. Ladies of leisure in the Republican era might amuse themselves by playing other drinking games in the boudoir, to which men were not invited. A typical penalty for a loser was to have to imitate a dog by crawling about on all fours. A woman who once had to do this caused an uproar by barking at the participants, biting as many tiny feet as she could.
The Lotus Gathering Boat was a dice-throwing drinking game which also made use of tiny shoes. The theme was ancient history, and players represented the beautiful concubine Hsi Shih, the Prince of Wu, his villainous Prime Minister, a eunuch, palace ladies, and the Envoy of the Boat. The Envoy of the Boat, who removed the shoes of the prostitute selected for the role of Hsi Shih, had the pleasure of rubbing her feet in the process. Drinking was determined by throws of the dice and their color, either red or black. Both shoes might be passed around at once, with one to two cups in each. On one call of the dice, the evil Prime Minister had to kneel before the beauty Hsi Shih, take one drink from the wine cup in her hands and four others from the two shoes. Certain dice throws required the participant either to sing or play musical instruments. Those who failed to do so had to take additional drinks. If the prostitute excused herself from the game because of the demands on her time from other quarters, she drank one large cupful as a penalty. The Envoy returned the shoes, which she put on herself, and the game awaited her return. When she reappeared, ten large drinks were ordered for her if she had inexcusably gotten her shoes dirty in the interim.
There was still another drinking game in which the players drank according to special throws of the dice, but the determining factors were social occupation and personal inclination or idiosyncrasy. For example, if a certain number was thrown the following persons had to drink:
One whose concubine had just given birth to a son; one who bragged about his drinking capacity; a new official; a spendthrift; a metal carver; a literatus; the person with the most servants; a profligate; one with a flower, tree, or number in his surname or given name; an owner of attractive servants, handsome youths, or wondrous prostitutes; one praised by his wives and concubines.
Another number:
A man with new shoes and socks; one who liked to adorn himself; one whose name in characters contained the grass or water elements.
Another number:
An antiquarian; an accountant; one suffering from hernia; an owner of gold or jade; one with the five metals in his name.
Another number:
A local gossip; a friend of prominent officials; a good fighter and rider; those whose surnames were the same as the twenty-eight ancient heroes [twenty-eight generals who distinguished themselves militarily in the restoration of the Later Han dynasty].
Another number:
One who had a handsome male servant [a probable reference to pederasty]; one in mourning for a deceased wife; one who owned singers and actresses; one who had thrown out a concubine.
Another number:
One whose wives and concubines were frequently pregnant; one whose cheeks got red from drinking; a bald man; one with protruding teeth; one whose prostitute was then menstruating.
Another number:
An expert in determining auspicious grave and building sites; one adept in bedroom techniques; a drunk; a henpecked husband; a large landholder; an intimate of the imperial family.
The last number:
A matchmaker; a nearsighted person; one with a scarred face; a private tutor; one about to take a concubine; an aging egotist.
The last drinking game mentioned by Fang Hsun was played on a surface resembling a checkerboard but having 216 squares. The board could be made of paper, but the finest ones were of bamboo and sandalwood. A woman was entrusted with moving about a tiny shoe on the surface of the board; to do this, she sometimes actually sat on the table which supported the game. The dice represented the ancient southern warring kingdoms of Wu and Yueh, which had fought lengthy wars against one another prior to the unification of China in 221 b.c. The object was for one side to vanquish the other. Participants had to drink while trying to accomplish this, with the number of drinks depending on tosses of the dice. The maximum number of drinks taken at any one time was ten, propriety was observed, and the losing side was given a toast by the victors.
Fang Hsun lived in an era in which the social custom of footbinding was virtually unquestioned. But as China approached the modern age, voices of protest began to be increasingly heard.
The male enthusiast was placed more and more on the defensive, and by the twentieth century he was forced to rationalize why footbinding flourished in civilized Chinese society. The apologist of the thirties admitted that the custom was in its last stages and that there would be no place for it in China’s future. He conceded that it was lewd and cruel to advocate footbinding, but asserted that it was dictatorial and oppressive to prohibit it. Its decline was regarded as a reflection of a changing aesthetic view unrelated to progress or barbarism.