The attitude of the cabinet ministers is very clear, that is, footbinding is prohibited. However, there were very few supporters among the six departments. Even Chen Xingshan, the Minister of Rites, remained silent.
This silence is itself a kind of protest.
At dusk, Chen Xingshan returned to his mansion with a sad face. His wife, Mrs. Zhang, had ordered people to prepare meals.
During the dinner, Mrs. Zhang saw that Chen Xingshan had a bad appetite and booed and sighed repeatedly. She couldn't help but ask: "I'm not asking too much. It's just that in recent days, the officials have not thought about food and tea and have been restless. If there is any big change, what will happen?" It’s better for me to arrange for my child to leave the capital for a while.”
Chen Xingshan shook his head bitterly: "The matter is not serious yet, so don't ask about other things."
Zhang had no choice but to hold back her doubts.
Chen Xingshan was sitting in his study, meditating on countermeasures.
Now the emperor's attitude is obvious. He would rather be known as a "good scholar with small feet" and "Long Yang's good" than to abolish footbinding and footbinding. In order to achieve this goal, he would not hesitate to intimidate the entire civil servants!
Foot binding was not an invention of the Ming Dynasty civil servants, nor was it unique to the Ming Dynasty. Why should we have to bear the pain?
Emperor Jianwen is acting like a hooligan.
But so what?
The civil servants did not have much room for change in this matter. If they really resisted the emperor's order, they would probably have their toes broken and their feet bound for several months like women.
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Women usually have their feet bound when they are three or five years old. Who would have thought that men in their thirties and fifties would have to go through this kind of thing!
Ridiculous, so absurd!
Chen Xingshan wanted to write a letter to dissuade him, but after thinking for two hours, he couldn't put his pen to paper. What reasons could he use to oppose the ban on foot-binding?
present?
When was foot binding included in the Ming Dynasty ritual system?
No!
Use it to be beautiful and conducive to viewing?
The emperor will definitely say that the reason for everyone to bind their feet is to watch. This reason is untenable.
Use folk tradition?
What, there were none in the Qin and Han Dynasties, none in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and few in the early Pre-Song Dynasty. Do you call this folk traditional customs? It’s okay not to use the eccentric customs that appeared after the weak Song Dynasty.
Is it helpful to restrain women, control women, prevent women from climbing over the wall, and prevent officials from wearing cuckold hats?
Does this have anything to do with feet?
If you walk slowly, you can climb over any wall that needs to be climbed.
Women are supposed to be humble. Foot-binding is in line with the female commandments. Is it what women should do? But ministers should also be loyal. The emperor wants you to wrap yourself up, will you wrap him up?
Chen Xingshan was a little crazy and walked back to the bedroom upset. Zhang made hot water to soak Chen Xingshan's feet.
Looking at the lady who was rubbing her feet, Chen Xingshan suddenly said, "What would you think if I had my feet bound?"
Mrs. Zhang was stunned, looked at Chen Xingshan in surprise, then smiled and said: "No matter what the officials say, there are no men who bind their feet. This is a woman's business."
Chen Xingshan said seriously, "What if the emperor requires men to bind their feet?"
Mrs. Zhang looked at the serious Chen Xingshan and shook her head firmly: "The emperor has been in charge of the country for ten years, and everyone in the world is aware of his character. The emperor is wise and will never do such a ridiculous thing."
Chen Xingshan looked at his wife, feeling a little dazed at this moment.
Everyone who is a woman knows that Emperor Jianwen is a good emperor, not stupid or immoral, not dissolute and shameless, but not many officials in the court see through this. Xie Jin and Yang Shiqi cooperated so tacitly and opposed foot binding so clearly. It is possible that they saw through Zhu Yunwen's plan, or even received some hint or direct arrangement!
Zhu Yunwen would find it difficult to do something that the courtiers opposed. But now that both cabinet members support Zhu Yunwen, and there is also a minister of the Ministry of War who is on the side, Zhu Yunwen does not need to take action on his own at all, and he will definitely be able to solve the problem.
As for Xu Huizu, Li Jian and others, it has nothing to do with them. Generals do not need to bind their feet. They will definitely support Zhu Yunwen in order to see the jokes of the civil servants...
With a group of supporters and divisions within the civil service group, no one can stop Zhu Yunwen!
"Madam, do you think it is a good thing or a bad thing for women to bind their feet?"
Chen Xingshan is rare and gentle.
Mrs. Zhang looked at her little feet and said bitterly: "Officials joke that footbinding can be described as the pain of hell. There is nothing good about it. Back then, my father didn't want me to bind my feet, but my mother insisted on it, saying that only by binding my feet could I marry into an official family." I just don’t know if my connection with the official is due to these little feet.”
Chen Xingshan took Ms. Zhang to sit aside, took off her shoes and footwear, and looked at the five-inch foot in front of her, which looked like an arched back. There was only the big toe at the front of the foot, and the other four toes were folded at the sole of the foot. , similar to a pointed cone.
For many years, Chen Xingshan didn't pay much attention to his wife's feet. Now when he saw this scene, he couldn't help but feel shocked and asked in a low voice: "Isn't it extremely painful to be so twisted?"
Mrs. Zhang lamented: "Why not? If you just break your toes, you can bear it. But the feet have to be bound and molded for three to six months, wrapped tightly with cloth strips, and the swelling and pain are so hot and itchy that it makes people want to die." No, some children lost their lives when they were young because their toes were broken, injured, and turned into pus."
"Is there such a thing?"
Chen Xingshan exclaimed.
Mrs. Zhang nodded heavily: "How dare you deceive the officials? Think about it. Foot binding is mostly done in spring and summer. The feet are wrapped with thick strips of cloth and the injuries are broken. How can it be painless? I also had bleeding on my feet back then. Pus, luckily I got through it."
Chen Xingshan looked at his wife's feet, full of heartache: "We don't have a daughter in our family. If we have a daughter, would you like to bind her feet?"
Mrs. Zhang took back her feet, put on her footwear, and said helplessly: "No mother can bear to break her daughter's toes, but the people and scholars all like small feet. They are so small. In order not to delay her daughter's marriage, she also You have to be cruel."
Chen Xingshan sighed deeply and asked, "Do you support foot binding, madam, or do you support the abolition of foot binding?"
Mrs. Zhang wiped Chen Xingshan's feet, picked up the footbath, and said sadly: "If it could be abolished, it would really be a good thing for all the people. It's a pity, I'm afraid it will be hard to get back. I think the officials must have heard of the Golden Lotus Cup." Bar?"
Chen Xingshan looked at his wife leaving with a heavy heart.
The golden lotus cup refers to a special cup. This cup is not made of silver, gold, or glass, but is made of the shoes of singing girls and dancers. Drinking wine with a singer's shoes was a eccentric habit of some scholars, so it was known as the "Golden Lotus Cup".
It is not the common people who are in trouble, but the scholar class. It is not the emperor who has eccentricities, but the scholar class. , Chen Xingshan finally saw clearly that all the opposition was just to protect his perverted desires and to satisfy his morbid pleasure!
That night, Chen Xingshan could no longer sleep, so he returned to his study and wrote five thousand words, linking the emergence of foot binding with the subjugation of the country, linking foot binding with illness and weakness, refuting foot binding, and completely separating the issue of foot binding from female virtue. Come, whip it out, and advocate for the complete abolition of foot binding, and to regard nature and health as beauty.
The Minister of Rites is worthy of being the Minister of Rites. The memorial is clearly written, with detailed evidence and sharp words. In particular, the separation of footbinding and female virtues made it impossible for all officials to talk about female virtues.
It is said that footbinding is a virtue for women. When Ban Zhao wrote "The Women's Ring", there was no footbinding at all. Have you read the book?
The strong support of the Minister of Rites, the cabinet and the Ministry of War, and Zhu Yunwen's threat of "if you don't agree, your feet will be bound" hanging above his head, made the voices of the courtiers opposed to foot binding less and less.
Imperial College Superintendent Hu Xi directly organized the supervisors to hold an unprecedented debate, and finally came to a conclusion: footbinding is a sign of destruction of the country, a sign of a cowardly king, and the root of illness. The Ming Dynasty is stronger than the Han and Tang Dynasties, how can it follow the example of the weak Song Dynasty and violent Yuan Dynasty?
Only when there was no foot binding in Hongwu could the founding of the country be peaceful.
Only if there is no foot binding in Jianwen, there will be prosperity.
Good guy, it's audacious to associate footbinding with a disloyal king and the destruction of a country.
But all the officials said nothing, because it was Prince Zhu Wenkui who made this conclusion, and it was clear who was behind the scenes.
Emperor Jianwen, who had been silent for many days, finally appeared. At this time, public opinion in the court had reached a basic consensus that foot binding was banned. There were also a few who were ignorant. Before Zhu Yunwen could speak, he was scolded by other officials and even threatened to have his feet bound first.
At this point, the conditions for banning foot binding are mature.
Zhu Yunwen did not hesitate, and with a stroke of his pen, promulgated the Jianwen ten-year ban on foot binding:
First, the royal family, officials, and scholars are not allowed to marry women with bound feet as wives or concubines, nor are they allowed to employ women with bound feet as maids or servants.
Second, women with small feet are not allowed to stay in singing and dancing brothels;
Third, it is strictly forbidden for all poems, dramas, dramas, etc. to praise the three-inch golden lotus, five-inch golden lotus and other small feet;
Fourth, foot binding is a sick old habit, a shame, an injury, and a harm to the people of the Ming Dynasty. Those who have foot binding are pitiful people and should not be looked down upon. Those who have not yet bound their feet should cherish their health and do not have their feet bound foolishly;
Fifth, it is forbidden for common people to bind their feet. Local people’s old habit of foot-binding will not be changed. Officials will be dismissed after two years. Elderly people will be exiled if they do not change it for three years. The villagers will guard the borders. Within five years, foot-binding will be completely eliminated...
The imperial court took an extremely frightening attitude, directly defining footbinding as pathological and ugly, and even linked the promotion of banning footbinding with the vital interests of officials, village chiefs, elders, etc., and the implicated attitude was horrifying.
Zhu Yunwen knew that if the bad habits were not changed, countless women would be foot-bound, mutilated, and physically and mentally damaged. Now the folk concept has been established. If it is not strict, if it is not excessive and excessive, it will be difficult to fight against the collective concept.
In order to shake this bad habit, Zhu Yunwen thought of every conceivable method. Although these methods would sacrifice some people, harm the interests of some people, and make some people unacceptable, there was no other way. What should be done must be done.
The document banning foot binding was first published in the Jianwen newspaper, and then the government messengers rushed out of the capital and went in all directions, and the vigorous foot binding movement began.
In order to cooperate with the ban on foot binding, news came out from the palace that Emperor Jianwen would draft a draft for the prince in two years. The first criterion for the draft is:
Never had feet bound.
Zhu Wenkui was very depressed after hearing the news. Han Xiayu came and pinched him severely. He ran away in anger, probably to complain to the queen.
