Chinese Cinderella
Annie Lee
Ms. Clarke
English 9- C Block
6 November 2015
Footbinding in China
Nai Nai, Wu Mei’s grandmother in Chinese Cinderella written by Adeline Yen Mah had a tormenting pain in her feet making the hot water massage essential for ease. The reason for her pain was due to footbinding. One of the most upper class Chinese women couldn’t dance or walk properly. They were “distorted and disabled” (2) and lived in pain everyday.
Footbinding was a Chinese cultural practice on women from the “Shang era (1600-1046 B.C.E.) until 1911” (1). People are not exactly sure how it started, but there are two predictions. The first prediction is that the last empress of Shang dynasty had very small bound feet and the second prediction is that “Le Howchoo ordered his concubine, Yaou, to bind her feet with silk, and cause them to appear small...” (2). Either way the tradition of footbinding started and it was done to young girls in early childhood. The feet would be placed in hot water and then wrapped with tight bandages. They broke the arch and curled the toes breaking four of them and left big one in order to walk. They did this so that the foot would not grow longer than four inches (1). The side effects were the pain, danger of infections, and joint problems, which changed one’s life significantly.
Despite these problems women bound their feet because it showed their prosperity and Chinese considered having small feet beautiful. Only rich women had bound feet because peasant women had to work. Footbinding would disable one to work since they won’t be able to walk for “more than a few hundred feet at a time” (2). Due to this reason having bound feet became a symbol for the rich. If men had a wife with bound feet, it showed that they were wealthy because only “men who could afford to support a woman who provided no assistance to household could have a wife with bound feet” (3). Women with bound feet would stay at home and do some painting, reading, and memorizing poetry (3). Footbinding was considered gruesome by Westerners and they “considered the practice of footbinding to be barbaric”, while Chinese thought it was beautiful (2).
Later this practice came to an end in Shanghai in 1895 and finally in 1911 footbinding was banned in China. Unfortunately Wu Mei’s grandmother, Nai Nai was born during the 1800s and she had bound feet with tight bandages. She was constantly in pain and needed hot water massages. Nai Nai was just one example of Chinese women but luckily Wu Mei was born in the “right timing” like Nai Nai said and didn’t need to go through footbinding, which was a very painful practice.
JeNa Park
Ms.Clarke
English 9- C Block
6 November 2015
What was Tianjin like in the 1940’s?
Would you risk your life to stay or leave your hometown if there were thousands of your neighbors, friends, and family member who were about to get killed? Wu Mei,from Chinese Cinderella didn’t have a choice to leave or stay in her hometown, Tianjin, because in the 1940’s it was a very unsafe place to live for anyone who was Chinese. The Wu Mei’s family continued to move all around China where ever they can escape from the Communist and the Japanese. It is important to know why Wu Mei moved to other different places because that was the only way for the readers to understand that was the only way to survive.
According to The Columbia Encyclopedia, the Sino-Japanese War was Japan’s invasion of China in July 1937. It was “the first battle of World War II” ("Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945" 1). China became a very chaotic, dangerous, and terrifying place for the Chinese people during that time. The Japanese “troops quickly captured important northern cities” ("Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945" 1) and marched down towards South China and that affected a vast amount of Chinese to take refuge. The way the Japanese fought was,“aimed at taking the cities, the roads, and the railroads, thereby gaining a net of control” ("Sino-Japanese War, Second" 2) Japan invaded China from North to South very rapidly which killed thousands and thousands of Chinese soldiers and peasants. Soon, they took control of Tianjin.
“It would take nearly a decade for the Chinese to regain control of their country as Chiang Kai-shek fought with the support of Allies, and the Communists waged guerilla campaigns” ("Sino-Japanese War, Second." 1). the Communists were a big help to China because they were the ones that were winning parts of small battles.
If we know how Tianjin was in 1940’s, we will better understand what happened and how they have felt. We wouldn’t be able to know what Wu-mei, the main character, was not aware of because nobody explained in detail to her but Wu-Mei started to notice that something negative was happening.
Sam Seo
Ms. Clarke
English 9-C
6 November, 2015
How did the wars, such as the Opium War, Japanese Invasion, and the Chinese Civil War influence Adeline Yen Mah’s childhood?
The Middle Kingdom, China was left with a big disgraceful scar all because of their own irresistible goods. The British was in a huge trade deficit because of the Chinese tea and other goods, and the result of the Opium War, many greedy westerners looking for lucrative trade deals congregated in the coastal cities, such as Tianjin where Adeline was born. The Japanese invasion forced Adeline’s family to relocate to Shanghai, and the Chinese Civil War inevitably made the family move to Hong Kong. Her childhood in these big cities
Before the Opium War, China was a closed country, but when it got defeated, many port cities were flooded with foreigners which somewhat instigated interracial marriages. Unfortunately, the product of this interracial marriage was her horrific stepmother, Niang, who caused lots of pain and agony to Adeline Yen Mah. When Adeline was born, Tianjin was divided into a number of foreign concessions. She was raised in a French concession, where it “was like a little piece of Paris transplanted into this center of this big Chinese City” (Mah, 5). People in the French concession were educated in French and English, lived in French style houses, experienced French culture, and were ruled by French citizens. (Tianjin, 1).
As Japanese power and influence increased, many businessmen fled to Shanghai where the city was modernized since the Opium War. It was the one of the largest cities in the world with three million population in which roughly 50,000 were from European origins who controlled half of the city. The city was full of new inventions, such as electricity and trams. The part of the city the European controlled grew four times larger than the Chinese part. The new international settlements were built in British style, and a Chinese bourgeoisie class was newly formed. Adeline Yen Mah lived and were educated in a French concession of the Western part of Shanghai. She received Western education, enjoyed modern inventions. and got to see the life of luxury her half siblings took for granted. From Shen Xin primary School, she discovered her talent and interest in writing which she further developed in Sacred Heart Canossian College in Hong Kong.
Soon after the World War II, the communist and nationalist resumed the Civil War. The communists pushed the nationalists towards the south, forcefully making them retreat. Many foreign companies relocated to Hong Kong, and refugees in mainland China, including Adeline’s family migrated with skills and capital. Adeline Yen Mah attended to Sacred Heart Canossian College where she received British education and later on transferred to London Hospital Medical School in London with her brother.
China was a closed country, but the Opium War and the Treaty of Nanjing brought in many foreigners into Tianjin, Shanghai, and Hong Kong where they became large and prosperous international cities. Although Adeline was neglected and mistreated by her parents, she accomplished her dream of becoming a writer. Adeline might have been shy and reserved, but she was exposed to western culture and education which helped her voice her opinions and desires to her father who approved her education in London.
