Review: Every Step a Lotus: Shoes for Bound Feet by Dorothy Ko

(Note: I apologize for the unaccounted inactivity for the past month--real life has been taking up a lot of my energy and I was short on time to devote to this blog until now!)

The word "footbinding" conjures up two distinct images: the intricate and impossibly small "lotus shoes" and the women with deformed feet who wore--and, for a dwindling number of older Chinese women, still wear--them. While these two images are certainly part of footbinding, they are merely pieces of a much larger cultural puzzle that made up a practice which lasted for at least four centuries. Every Step a Lotus: Shoes for Bound Feet by Dorothy Ko fills in more of this puzzle by providing an overview of the history of footbinding, its development and adaptation through varying Chinese cultures, and how--and possibly why--footbinding played such a large role in the vital but often overlooked "inner circle" of women's society in Qing China.



It is clear from the outset of this book that Kohas chosen to approach footbinding from a historical and cultural viewpoint, rather than from one which casts judgement on the practice of footbinding from a modern viewpoint. "As a historian who has studied footbinding and women's cultures for years," she writes, "I do not claim to be neutral. I feel strongly that we should understand footbinding not as a senseless act of destruction but as a meaningful practice in the eyes of the women themselves."  Although the pain and deformations caused by footbinding are discussed (and, in a few photographs, shown) Ko does not linger on them outside of providing an informative though, of course, shocking "instructional" illustrated guide to how footbinding was usually performed. However, most of the book explores the shoes worn after footbinding and the role that both the practice and lotus shoes had in the lives of women of varying social standing throughout several centuries of Chinese history.

Although footbinding was a consequence of living in a society which was ruled and dominated by men, the world and culture of footbinding was ruled and dominated by women. Footbinding, in essence, was strictly within the female domain. Female matchmakers and other respected women in a village or area would be consulted before the process of footbinding began in order to ensure that the process was started during the correct time. Mothers, aunts, and elder sisters would perform the act of footbinding on daughters and other young girls in the family. They would also teach those girls to create well-made and intricate lotus shoes, which were not only for practical purposes--the girls would need to be able to create footwear for their bound feet, in varying sizes as their feet became smaller--but also to help improve their chances of making a successful marriage match. Girls who could create well made shoes with fine and detailed designs were favorable to those whose work was more or less shoddy. Matchmakers would not only assess the size of a girl's feet, but her ability to create shoes and perform other essential female work. A young woman's ability to create fine lotus shoes would also make her transition into a new household after marriage much easier, as this skill was highly valued.

In addition to the vivid descriptions of how footbinding fit into female Chinese society, the book features numerous colorful photographs of lotus shoes from various Chinese cultures. Many of these shoes have never been on public display due to their delicacy and were seen by the public for the first time in this book. From a cultural standpoint, it is very interesting to see how the shoes varied depending on the region and time period. Lotus shoes from mountain regions, for example, tended to be bigger and more sloped to allow for women to more easily navigate the harsh terrain. Almost all of the shoes feature beautiful embroidery and vivid colors, which makes it easy to see why having the skill to make these shoes was so highly valued.

 Every Step a Lotus: Shoes for Bound Feet by Dorothy Ko is an essential look at the practice of footbinding from a historian intent on placing this cultural practice back into its historical context--as an important piece of the puzzle of women's lives during Qing Dynasty China. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Chinese history, women's studies, or unique historical fashion.

Book Finds: Chinese history releases for 2012

Chinese history is incredibly long and incredibly fascinating--I was tempted to do a post on some of my favorite older Chinese history books, but I thought I would go for a little something different instead and share some of the more interesting Chinese history book releases for 2012. Personally, I'm most excited for the new book on the Forbidden City and the study on women's poetry form the late imperial period.

The following descriptions are all from Amazon.com

The Forbidden City by Jean-Paul Descroches, Guillaume Fonkenell and Isabelle Lemaistre [June 1, 2012]

An enigmatic locale that has long fascinated the West, the Forbidden City of Peking is explored in this chronicle. It reveals how the city has always been reserved for imperial families and their circles of acquaintances only, remaining taboo to the Chinese people, who were not allowed to approach it nor even look at it. It explains what it took to realize what is regarded as the most important architectural project in China, and documents how its construction spanned 14 years and required over a million workers. More than five centuries of the city’s history is revisited, detailing an array of magnificent treasures secretly passed down through its generations. Focusing on several exceptional pieces, the examination places them beside recognizably Western works, and reflects on the Far East’s remarkable influence on the other side of the world.

The Seventies: Recollecting a Forgotten Time in China by Theodore Huters [July 3, 2012]

The Seventies (Qishi niandai) is a remarkable compendium of essays recollecting those years originally edited by the poet Bei Dao and the writer/editor Li Tuo, first published in Hong Kong in late 2008. Among the collection's most notable features is its powerful ability to reach back and illuminate that strange decade, now mostly thought of as an interregnum between a just preceding Maoist frenzy with its intense socialism and the ascent of Deng Xiaoping and his new era at the very end of the period. It was also, however, the formative time in the growth of the group of intellectuals, writers and artists -- almost all born after 1949 -- who came to dominate Chinese cultural life by the turn of the century. As "educated urban youth" (zhishi qingnian), many of the writers represented here were at once the most active participants and most evident victims of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution that spanned the years between 1966 and 1976. The works selected and translated here provide a series of vivid impressions of what has turned out to be a key period in modern Chinese social, intellectual and artistic life.

The Silk Road: A New History by Valerie Hansen [August 6, 2012]

The Silk Road is as iconic in world history as the Colossus of Rhodes or the Suez Canal. But what was it, exactly? It conjures up a hazy image of a caravan of camels laden with silk on a dusty desert track, reaching from China to Rome. The reality was different--and far more interesting--as revealed in this new history. ... For centuries, key records remained hidden-sometimes deliberately buried by bureaucrats for safe keeping. But the sands of the Taklamakan Desert have revealed fascinating material, sometimes preserved by illiterate locals who recycled official documents to make insoles for shoes or garments for the dead. Hansen explores seven oases along the road, from Xi'an to Samarkand, where merchants, envoys, pilgrims, and travelers mixed in cosmopolitan communities, tolerant of religions from Buddhism to Zoroastrianism. There was no single, continuous road, but a chain of markets that traded between east and west. China and the Roman Empire had very little direct trade. China's main partners were the peoples of modern-day Iran, whose tombs in China reveal much about their Zoroastrian beliefs. Silk was not the most important good on the road; paper, invented in China before Julius Caesar was born, had a bigger impact in Europe, while metals, spices, and glass were just as important as silk. Perhaps most significant of all was the road's transmission of ideas, technologies, and artistic motifs.

Women's Poetry of Late Imperial China: Transforming the Inner Chambers by Xiaorong Li [September 1, 2012]

This study of poetry by women in late imperial China examines the metamorphosis of the trope of the "inner chambers" (gui), to which women were confined in traditional Chinese households, and which in literature were both a real and an imaginary place. Originally popularized in sixth-century "palace style" poetry, the inner chambers were used by male writers as a setting in which to celebrate female beauty, to lament the loneliness of abandoned women, and by extension, to serve as a political allegory for the exile of loyal and upright male ministers spurned by the imperial court. Female writers of lyric poetry (ci) soon adopted the theme, beginning its transition from male fantasy to multidimensional representation of women and their place in society, and eventually its manifestation in other poetic genres as well.

Emerging from the role of sexual objects within poetry, late imperial women were agents of literary change in their expansion and complication of the boudoir theme. While some take ownership and de-eroticizing its imagery for their own purposes, adding voices of children and older women, and filling the inner chambers with purposeful activity such as conversation, teaching, religious ritual, music, sewing, childcare, and chess-playing, some simply want to escape from their confinement and protest gender restrictions imposed on women. Women's Poetry of Late Imperial China traces this evolution across centuries, providing and analyzing examples of poetic themes, motifs, and imagery associated with the inner chambers, and demonstrating the complication and nuancing of the gui theme by increasingly aware and sophisticated women writers.

Book Finds: Geishas of Japan

I'll admit that, like many people, I've always been fascinated by the world of the geisha. Striking costumes, traditional song and dance and a dash of that mysterious allure make reading about geishas nearly irresistible. The following are some interesting books about geishas which I think will satisfy any lover of history or traditional Japanese arts.

The following descriptions are all from Amazon.com

Geisha: 25th Anniversary Edition by Liza Dalby [December 10th, 2008]

In this classic best seller, Liza Dalby, the first non-Japanese ever to have trained as a geisha, offers an insider's look at the exclusive world of female companions to the Japanese male elite. A new preface examines how geisha have been profoundly affected by the changes of the past quarter century yet--especially in Kyoto--have managed to take advantage of modern developments to maintain their social position with flair.

Autobiography of a Geisha by Sayo Masuda [May 25, 2005]

Sayo Masuda has written the first full-length autobiography of a former hot-springs-resort geisha. Masuda was sent to work as a nursemaid at the age of six and then was sold to a geisha house at the age of twelve. In keeping with tradition, she first worked as a servant while training in the arts of dance, song, shamisen, and drum. In 1940, aged sixteen, she made her debut as a geisha. ... Masuda also tells of her life after leaving the geisha house, painting a vivid panorama of the grinding poverty of the rural poor in wartime Japan. As she eked out an existence on the margins of Japanese society, earning money in odd jobs and hard labor -- even falling in with Korean gangsters -- Masuda experienced first hand the anguish and the fortitude of prostitutes, gangster mistresses, black-market traders, and abandoned mothers struggling to survive in postwar Japan.

A Geisha's Journey: My Life As a Kyoto Apprentice by Komomo [May 1, 2008]

This is the story of a contemporary Japanese teenager who, in a search for an identity, became fascinated with the world of geisha, and discovered in herself the will and the commitment to embark on the many years of apprenticeship necessary to become one. It is also the story of a young Japanese photographer who grew up overseas, and who also was captivated by the traditional lives of these women who choose to dedicate themselves to their art. He began following and documenting the life of teenager Komomo as she studied and grew into her role. Naoyuki Oginos photographs follow Komomos entire journey, from her first tentative visits after finding the geisha house on the internet through her commitment to the hard schedule of an apprentice, learning arts that go back centuries, all the way to the ceremony where she officially became a geiko, as Kyotos geisha are known and beyond.

Geisha by Lesley Downer [June 14, 2011]

Ever since Westerners arrived in Japan, we have been intrigued by geisha. This fascination has spawned a wealth of fictional creations from Madame Butterfly to Arthur Golden's "Memoirs of a Geisha". The reality of the geisha's existence has rarely been described. Contrary to popular opinion, geisha are not prostitutes but literally "arts people". Their accomplishments might include singing, dancing or playing a musical instrument but, above all, they are masters of the art of conversation, soothing worries of highly paid businessmen who can afford their attentions. The real secret history of the geisha is explored here.

The Nightless City: Geisha and Courtesan Life in Old Tokyo by J.E. de Becker [September 19, 2007]

Written over a century ago, this pioneer study was the first to venture behind the teahouse doors of the Yoshiwara quarter, Tokyo's red-light district. It remains unsurpassed as the definitive survey of geisha and courtesan life, with meticulous descriptions of traditional training, dress, social hierarchy, and erotic practices. 49 black-and-white illustrations; 2 maps.

Geisha: Beyond the Painted Smile by the Peabody Essex Museum [September 2004]

Renowned throughout the world as purveyors of beauty, mystery, and allure, geisha have come to represent the epitome of Japanese elegance and chic. The rich 250-year history of these performance artists is vividly presented in this volume, taking the reader behind the mask-like makeup and into the studios where they train and rehearse and into the teahouses where they entertain. Geisha have altered definitions of feminine beauty and identity and are the prevailing icons of Japanese womanhood. Their influence on Japan's decorative arts is documented by their beautiful kimono and hair ornaments and by the musical instruments and fans they use in their performances. Illustrated with woodblock prints and paintings as well as historical and contemporary photographs, this groundbreaking study also explores the dynamic tension between image and reality in the art of these exquisite entertainers. Geisha: Beyond the Painted Smile is a comprehensive presentation of geisha culture from its origins nearly three centuries ago to contemporary Japan

Review: At the Edge of the Abyss: A Concentration Camp Diary, 1943-1944 by David Koker

[A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher upon my request.]

David Koker was only 23 years old when he died on route to Dachau in early 1945---just one of almost 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. But his legacy, published in English for the first time as At The Edge of the Abyss: A Concentration Camp Diary, 1943-1944, has lived on. The diary, published by Northwestern University Press, is nothing less than a remarkable and essential read. David Koker was interned, along with his mother, father and younger brother, in the Vught camp in February 1943. He began his diary soon after, and maintained it until February of the next year, when the diary was given to a civilian employee working at Vught, who smuggled it out to a friend of Koker. The diary is not only a well-detailed account of life in the Vught camp, but a testament to Koker's internal struggles as he (and those around him) attempted to come to terms with the growing horror of their situation. Koker was a budding poet and intellectual, and some of the verses he drafted while interned in Vught are included in his diary. Also quoted in the book are several surviving letters and notes that Koker wrote and received while in the camp--letters and notes were often hidden in parcels, such as in loaves of bread.

In his introduction to At The Edge of the Abyss: A Concentration Camp Diary, Robert Jan van Pelt explains why the diary's existence is unique:  "... the number of postwar memoirs written by Holocaust survivors is enormous, and the number of diaries and notebooks written during the Holocaust [by people who were] at home, or in a ghetto, or in hiding is substantial, the number of testimonies that were written in the inner circles of hell, in that German concentration camp, and that survived the war is small." The ability to write a diary under such circumstances would have been difficult enough, both emotionally and logistically, but David Koker managed not only to write—but to write a substantial and and highly observational diary, full of factual observations about life in the camp and an increasingly psychological probe into the “abyss” that surrounded them. Koker was able to obtain a relatively privileged position in the camp, which was one of the reasons why he was able to maintain his diary and maintain a sense of ‘detachment’ from camp life. 

At first glance, David Koker's diary is remarkably subdued and even subtle. Many of his diary entries describe unreal circumstances with an almost nonchalant attitude. One reason for this apparent “normalcy” in his diary could be that Koker felt assimilated and yet detached from camp life early on.  In March of 1943, less than a month after having been imprisoned at the camp, he wrote to his girlfriend in hiding: "I immediately accept everything as normal. That's why I don't experience things sufficiently. ... You must believe me: from the second day on everything was quite normal: the German detachments, being together with so many people, the strange food, taking care of the most essential daily matters, etc. I didn't notice the passage from one kind of life to the other ... even the strangest and most awful things become normal and agreeable." Koker, at least, was self-aware of how imprisonment had changed him: "You become selfish, even towards your own family ... Sometimes I treat the children with bitterness, yet the friendliest treatment hides a bit of sadism and lust for power. ... A kind of feeling of being in charge."

In several passages throughout his diary, Koker mentions Poland and in particular, Auschwitz—the inevitable destination that we, in hindsight, know meant certain death. However, many of the people in Vught (and other camps) were not aware of the ultimate fate of people sent to Poland—or “to the East”—until much later. In September of 1943, Koker wrote: “… good reports are coming in from Poland. It’s only too bad that people really are working in the coal mines. But the work isn’t all that heavy, many writer.” A footnote goes on to explain that a special project was created in which Jewish inmates were, prior to being murdered, forced to write postcards to relatives, which were then sent out at intervals to give the impression not only of life but of relatively good conditions in the camps. In November, Koker wrote again: “ … the administrator has spoken about Auschwitz, where the [Escotex branch] will go in its entirety. Stories … have a more or less sunny aspect. Jewish camp leadership. A lot of agriculture, the camp is largely self-supporting. … If you ask me, it sounds livable.” 

But the reality of “the East” came crashing down only a few weeks later, November 27th, on Koker’s birthday: “The morning of my birthday: Spitz reads an excerpt from a letter from Poland. Three people … are living with Moves [expression meaning “they are dead.”]. And Moves’s business is working overtime. …  Seldom have I seen anything set out so clearly in writing … Our optimistic messages from Poland are not incorrect. They have simply been incomplete. A probably relatively small group is working and doing reasonably well. And the rest: wiped out. The world has changed.”   

Koker’s diary is, at times, a difficult read. The diary is essentially a raw, first draft—unlike many of the writers who penned diaries in hiding or wrote postwar memoirs, Koker did not have the chance to edit his diary for his intended reader (his girlfriend) or a broader audience. However, numerous citations and footnotes provide ample information about almost all of the people and events mentioned in the diary. But perhaps the raw nature of Koker’s diary is part of what makes it such an important read, in addition to the irreplaceable information about daily life in the Vught camp. We are reading, at its heart, the inner thoughts of a human being—imperfect, as we all are—whose life was cut short by events he could not control. 

I highly recommended At the Edge of the Abyss: A Concentration Camp Diary, 1943-1944 by David Koker, which was edited by Robert Jan van Plet and translated from Dutch by Michiel Horn and John Irons. It is one of the most important contemporary accounts of a concentration camp currently published, and one of the most insightful and raw accounts of a human being put into an impossible situation that I've personally read.