Voice and the Sleepwalking Body

This article explores the relation between body and voice in the performance of a contemporary opera, Ficarra and Whittington's The Empress's Feet, based on a Chinese tale relating the origin of the practice of foot binding. The tale relates the ancient practice to cure a queen from bouts of sleepwalking that afflicted her. I initially explore the opera's complex formal structure, its central themes and the way it transforms the original tale. I will then develop some of the significant aspects, imaginary as well as factual, of both the practice of foot binding and the phenomenon of sleepwalking. I suggest that the opera not only relates itself thematically to the tale and through it to the practice of foot binding, but also suggests a further parallel between foot binding and a form of bodily mutilation that is associated with the development of the medium of opera in the West, namely the phenomenon of the castrato. The threefold consideration of foot binding, sleepwalking and the voice of the castrato will serve to reveal a moment of liberation, at the heart of the opera – call it the agency or voice given to the feet ‘unbound’. I will conclude with an account of a production of The Empress's Feet which I directed in 2014, based on the interpretation suggested in this article.

Confucian Humanism and the Importance of Female Education

The problem of the relation between the female gender and Confucian humanism is far more complex than it seems to be on the first glance. Especially if we consider the many misogynistic phenomena we can encounter in the course of Chinese history, such as foot-binding or the concubinage, we might be inclined to think that female philosophy was impossible in traditional China. This paper aims to challenge the standard views on this problem. It aims to shed some light on the fact that in this context we have to differentiate between classical teachings that were relatively egalitarian in nature, and later ideologies that more or less openly promoted the inferior position of women in society. The paper will analyse the work of the female Han dynasty scholar Ban Zhao (45–117 CE), who was the first well-known female thinker in the history of Chinese philosophy. Through this analysis, the author also aims to expose the contradiction between dominant conventions on the one hand, and latent, often hidden criticism of gender relations in female writings of traditional China on the other. In this way, the paper aims to promote a more culturally sensitive approach to the historical and conceptual study of gender discourses in China by connecting textual analyses with actual and comprehensive knowledge of the historical and social contexts in which they were placed.

Wizerunek Chinek w wybranej polskiej prasie międzywojennej w latach 30. XX w

The image of Chinese women in selected Polish interwar press in the 1930s Among the interests of the pre-war press, both mass and specialized, was China. Most of the space was devoted to the inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom: “Ivy” and mass magazines, associated with the Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny [Illustrated Daily Courier], whose readers were also usually female citizens of the Second Polish Republic: As [Ace] and Na Szerokim Świecie [In the Broad World]”. In the Polish press, Chinese women were presented either as mysterious women of exotic beauty, who used to have mysterious souls, victims of the patriarchal system, or emancipated women fighting for their rights in political, professional and social life. Mass magazines often focused primarily on both the external appearance and spirituality of the Chinese. However, while the inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom were described as beautiful and elegant women, their character was usually portrayed in a negative light. It was emphasized that many of them served as not only charming, but well-educated courtesans. Both mass magazines and the women’s press were alarmed that the situation of Chinese women was very severe and was due to their low position in society. As a significant example, they gave the habit of foot binding. The women’s press, however, further emphasized that the situation of Chinese women gradually improved thanks to feminist movements. And among the most important representative women’s press mentioned Meling Sung. Both Bluszcz [Ivy] and Ziemianka Polska [Polish Lady Landowner] placed more emphasis on the professional emancipation of citizens of the Middle Kingdom than on their fight against other manifestations of gender discrimination.

How Social Transformation Is Affecting Female Clothing Change in the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China

During the late Qing dynasty and the early Republic of China, women's clothing had a revolutionary change. Under the unprecedented social transformation in a millennium, Social Darwinism called for “mother of the citizens”, arousing public concern to release women's bodies. Anti-foot-binding movement awakened women's self-awareness and planted a hint of women's emancipation. While Feminism turned the value to the “parity of citizens,” women disguised their female character and dressed as men. Early Qipao was widespread during women’s liberation movement. The New Culture Movement facilitated ideology of Human Liberation. Women gradually possessed independence of personality and changed their corsets. They tended to confront and express body curves instead of cover and weakening.

Rereading Klein’s “Some reflections on ‘The Oresteia’ ”—the evolution of the mother–daughter relationship in four generations of Chinese women

This article analyses the evolution of the mother–daughter relationship in China, and describes the mothering characteristics of four generations of women, which in sequence includes “foot-binding mothers”, “mothers after liberation”, “mothers after reform and opening up”, and “mothers who were only daughters”. Referring to Klein’s ideas about the mother–child relationship, especially those in her paper “Some reflections on ‘The Oresteia’ ”, the author tries to understand mothers and their impact on their daughters in these various periods of Chinese history, so as to explore the mutual influence of the mother–daughter relationship in particular, and the Chinese cultural and developmental context in general.

Gender and Social Life in Imperial China

Social life in imperial China was structured on the Confucian gender principles of the separation of male and female and the division of “inner and outer” spheres. Homosociality prevailed while heterosociality was limited. Homosociality dominated the forms and manners of social interaction. Men moved around freely and faced little constraint in forging relationships and networks, while women were largely homebound and secluded. In general, women enjoyed more physical freedom in earlier imperial times than in late imperial China, when seclusion of women intensified thanks to the rise of the female chastity cult and the spread of the practice of foot-binding. But even in the late imperial period, women were able to form networks and communities, in person or by means of writing. Local traditions and stages in the life cycle influenced women’s lived experiences of socialization, and class also played an important part in social life for both men and women. For example, education and a government career provided main venues for elite male socialization but for the men in lower social classes, their networks were built around localized institutions such as temple associations, sworn brotherhood, secret societies, and native place association.

Structures of Dominance and Oppression in Lisa See’s Shanghai Girls

Lisa See is a Chinese American writer who gives a realistic picture of the state of Chinese women in her novels. Her novel Shanghai Girls (2009) has two sisters, Pearl and May as its protagonists, who go through great pain and suffering in patriarchal China, leave war-torn Shanghai, and try to change themselves to the difficult roles of wives in arranged marriages and as Chinese immigrants in the U.S. This paper bring out the patriarchal practices that were prevalent in China like of foot-binding, women being sold out in the name of marriage, gender-discrimination and women as victims of violence, as sieen in the novel.

THE EFFECTS OF FOOT BINDING CUSTOM IN LISA SEE’S NOVEL SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN

This study constitutes an Analysis of The Effect of Foot Binding Custom from Lisa See’s novel Snow Flower and The Secret Fan published in 2006. The Positive and Negative effects are the topics to discuss. This analysis uses the data taken from the novel applying descriptive qualitative research. One of the significant theories of the custom used in this study is that a person who claims that the essence of a culture having a custom in it is not its artifacts, tools, or other tangible cultural elements but how the members of the group interpret, use, and perceive them. It is the values, symbols, interpretations, and perspectives that distinguish one from another in modernized societies; it is not material objects and other tangible aspects of human societies. People within a culture usually interpret the meaning of symbols, artifacts, and behaviors in the same or in similar ways. The findings show that Foot Binding Custom gives women positive effects such as high statue in the society, and symbol of beauty. Besides the positive effects, there are also negative effects such as infection, and even death. The conclusions of the study are Foot binding, as the time goes by, is not persevered anymore as it gives more negative effects than the positive ones. However, health is the most important part of human life. Health is the pivot upon which a man's whole personality and its well-being depend. An ailing and aching body saps the enthusiasm for pursuit. Unwholesome feelings and sensations retard the pace of functional activity, economic development and spiritual uplift.