The husband’s face reddened, but he had nothing to say in reply.
The boy as a teen-ager liked to search out tiny feet in women’s bedrooms, like a hungry rat in search of food. His father’s friend, a Mr. Ni, had a daughter who was a year the boy’s senior. They met at a large party, exchanged admiring glances, and murmured phrases of love. While their elders were busily occupied, the boy rubbed Miss Ni’s feet and received a smiling response. The guests finally departed, and Miss Ni prepared for bed. As she passed her parents’ bedroom, she heard her father say: “This boy Hsun is flighty and should be punished by me. But is a father also responsible for the behavior of his daughter?” “They are both children, but jealous grown-ups interfere and try to make annoying remarks,” replied the wife. Miss Ni returned to her room in tears. She told her servant to give Hsun a pair of her shoes if she died, because their only hope for reunion was in the next life. And she consequently died of grief.
The servant informed Hsun of the tragedy, giving him the shoes: “Miss Ni said before she died that if you really love her, you will open the coffin within ten days and change these shoes with the ones on her feet.” When it was almost midnight, the servant escorted him to the coffin. He forcefully opened it and looked at her, lying as if she were still alive and in a deep sleep. He changed the shoes for her and then kissed her passionately. The eerie scene was illumined by moonlight above and candles at her side. Miss Ni’s feet moved, and she came back to life. Her mother embraced them both and said it was Heaven’s intent that they be paired. Wedding day guests thronged about to get a glimpse of her superlative lotuses, and bride and groom drank wine from tiny shoes in which wine-cups had been placed.
It has been mentioned previously that men also preferred to have small feet. About 1906, in the capital of Peking, it was customary for boys of the upper class to compress their feet with binding cloths so that they could wear the narrow shoes then in vogue. One major reason for male footbinding in China was superstition. If an astrologer determined that the rearing of a boy in a particular family would be inauspicious, the parents might attempt to deceive fate by bringing up the child as if it were a girl. The story was told of a Hunanese soldier who took a concubine after his wife died, early in marriage. When he was over fifty, she finally gave birth to a son. However, he followed the advice of an astrologer and reared his son as a girl in order to prevent calamity. He had the infant’s ears pierced, presented it to his relatives as if it were a girl, and called it Lovable Treasure. He had its feet bound at the age of one year, kept the child at home, and dressed its hair like a girl’s. The child’s bound feet were perfect and regular. His father revealed what had happened on his deathbed, and asked his son to revert to male attire, which he did, wearing larger shoes filled with cotton to accommodate his tiny feet.
Male footbinding may have been known as early as the Sung dynasty. A certain official at that time was alleged to have had slender and bowed tiny feet, exactly like a woman’s, which he proudly displayed. One reference described young men in about 1465 who, with bound feet and in feminine guise, entered into marriage arrangements with uninformed male victims. When the wedding was about to take place, they would flee to freedom, undoubtedly getting away with the dowry which the unsuspecting groom had already provided. And a Ming writer wrote in convincing detail about an episode in 1480 which involved a footbound male. There was then a young and attractive widow in the capital, skilled in sewing and embroidery, who had tiny feet less than four inches long. She was on excellent terms with the wealthy and eminent, who employed her to teach their daughters how to sew. Whenever she saw a man, she would shyly withdraw from his presence. She also refused to respond to questions addressed to her by men, implying that to do so was improper. She was strictly correct in her demeanor and, when night fell, insisted on locking the bedroom door and on sleeping together with the young lady whom she was instructing at the time.
Because of her moral behavior, everyone regarded her highly. A certain Mr. Yang admired her and wished to have her for his own. He had his wife invite her to their home, pretending that she was her husband’s younger sister. That night the wife obeyed her husband’s instructions by opening the door of her room, under the pretense that she wished to go to the latrine. Mr. Yang extinguished the candle, throttled the widow’s cries, and was about to rape her, when he discovered that “she” was a man. The female impersonator was interrogated by the authorities on the following day. He was twenty-four years old and had bound his feet in childhood as a device to become intimate with daughters of wealthy families. He had already enjoyed sexual relations with several of his unsuspecting customers.
Footbinding by male actors who impersonated tiny-footed women was mentioned during the Ch’ing dynasty and the early years of the Republic. At the end of the eighteenth century, a young actor in his teens from Anhwei named Hu Yao-ssu was well known for looks and talent. Hu’s feet had been bowed in childhood like a girl’s. When he took his place on the stage, fully made up, he looked extremely charming and attractive.
A certain official from Kweichow had lewd relations with him. When the official was transferred, Hu abandoned his acting career to accompany him. When the official went into mourning for one of his parents, less than two years later, Hu had already amassed considerable wealth. In order to conceal his plebeian background and the fact that he had formerly been an actor, Hu changed his surname to Ho and pretended that he was from an area near Peking. He made a donation to the official salt administration and in exchange was assigned a post in the Huai River region. When Hu discovered that the Kweichow official had received an important promotion upon completion of mourning observances, he paid a formal call and once again became a trusted intimate.
One day, someone had a letter sent in to him; Hu got so angry after reading it that he ordered the letter bearer expelled. Soon after, to celebrate his mother’s birthday, he assembled numerous entertainers and gave plays and a banquet in her honor. Yangchow officialdom came forth en masse to pay their respects. Hu received them in formal attire and invited them to join in the festivities. The first play to be shown was the Palace of Longevity, where the Illustrious Celestial of the T’ang dynasty made his vow of eternal love. During the first scene, the actor playing the role of T’ang court musician Li Kuei-nien suddenly left the stage and charged at Hu with a bamboo rod, beating him until he was covered with blood. The actor then announced to a shocked audience that he had come to discipline his disciple and that this was none of their concern. He revealed how Hu had quit his acting profession, concealed his background, and become an official.
As his teacher, I was forced to return home without funds. I merely asked him for a few cash in order to defray my traveling expenses, and he not only refused to see me but had me expelled. How could such a cruel disciple exist in this world!
Hu was rendered speechless, and the audience felt that they were listening to a series of lies. As if he sensed this, the teacher-actor informed them that Hu had bound feet, and invited them to investigate for themselves. A few in the crowd who were on terms of enmity with Hu ripped off his shoes and revealed the tiny lotus hooks, thus corroborating the accuser’s allegations. About 1900, foot wrapping was practiced by men in Tientsin. They first wrapped a square cloth around the feet, and then wore extremely tight and unyielding socks. The object was to get the feet so formed that they were pointed at the tip, thin, narrow, flat, and balanced. There was both a capital style and later a Shanghai style of shoe, differentiated by the appearance of the tip. The capital style was so abbreviated in front that the toes were covered only up to the second joint. The shoes were made out of a colored brocade, with a black brocade trim around them.