Humans of China│人在中国（四十七）

Humans of China   

人在中国

Exploring China one person at a time

一次探索一个中国人

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 I was born in 1922 so this year I am 96 years old. I am one of the last remaining ladies in Beijing with bound feet and I am the only one left in my village. I started to bind my feet around the age of 6 years old. It was a long and painful process taking a few years to complete and I had no choice. Every girl wants to marry and when you’re being told that if your feet are not bound then no boy will want you and you won't be able to find a husband, you start to agree with the process. My feet were wrapped with bandages and the pain reached my knees.  The cloth we used was very long and very smelly. My mum and sisters all had bound feet but they are no longer alive. I married at the age of 15. The groom and his family first looked at my feet and not my face. His family told my mum that if my feet were not small then they wouldn’t have allowed us to marry each other. They were so surprised at how small my feet were and they asked my mum was I born with some kind of disability or were my feet so small because they were bound so well.  Back then appearance wasn’t important, the only thing that was important was the size of the women’s feet. Before marrying, I didn’t go to school which was really unfair and after marriage, we had 5 children, 3 girls and 2 boys who are all still alive today.  I gave birth to 6 children, the first child I gave birth to was a boy and just after he was born the Japanese invaded our village and we were on the run. Whilst running away from them he died. My husband liked my feet whether they were bare or if I wore socks and shoes but my husband passed away when he was 54 years old. That was one of the saddest times of my life. I never wanted to marry again as I still feel like we are married today. We’ve been married for around 80 years. I was very tall, very nimble and very quick when I was younger. I could climb trees to collect fruits, dig soil, cook and clean even though my feet were tiny. We were farmers and that’s hard work. Even with bound feet I still had to work and after a day’s work, my feet were painful, again. I lived a very tough life and when my children were young there was hardly anything to eat. I’d work hard to provide for them but when it wasn’t enough I’d have to borrow from other people. No matter how hungry I was or how much I wanted and needed food my children came first. I’d let them eat as much as they needed and if there was anything food left over then I would be able to eat but if not then I would go hungry. Even though I am old I think I am healthy. I go to sleep early and wake up early at around five in the morning. I’ll put on my shoes, pick up my walking stick and take a walk around the courtyard. I can still cook but I live with my children now so they take care of me. I have grandchildren and great-grandchildren and hearing the news of them being born were some of the happiest times of my life. Each day my daughter will help me carefully wash my feet with clean warm water and when I need new shoes she will help me order them from the internet. They are custom made and cost us around 300 yuan. Festivals are very important to me and at these times we all gather together to eat and drink and it’s lovely to see my huge family of 5 generations in one place.  A few years ago I completed my list of dreams by visiting and taking a photo in Tiananmen Square. My son drove us there and took the photo for me. Since then I have had many journalists visit me but I sometimes find this annoying. They just come to take a lot of photos of me and don’t talk but I have never been interviewed by a foreigner before. These days I am happy.

Beijing

我是1922年出生的，今年96岁。整个北京裹脚的妇女还在世的不多了，我是我们村里唯一一个。我大概6岁时候开始裹脚，裹了好几年，是个很痛苦很漫长的过程，但是我必须裹脚，没有别的选择。每个女孩子都想结婚，当别人告诉你如果你不裹脚的话，没人想娶你，为了能够找到丈夫，你就同意开始裹脚了。我用纱布裹脚，一直痛到膝盖。晚上我必须要穿着鞋子睡觉，但是我基本睡不着。我记得，纱布很长，也很臭。我妈妈和我姐姐也都裹脚了，但是她们都已经过世了。我15岁时候结婚的，新郎和他家人首先看的是我的脚而不是我的脸。他家人告诉我妈妈，如果不是因为我脚小，他们是不会同意我们结婚的。他们对于我脚小的程度感到诧异，问我妈妈是不是我天生脚就长得就比较小。在那个时候，人们的外貌不重要，唯一重要的就是女性脚的大小。在结婚前，我没上过学，对我不太公平，结婚后，我们有5个孩子，3个女儿2个儿子，他们现在都还活着。我生了6个孩子，我第一个生的是男孩，但是当时日本人进攻我们村，我们逃命过程中他夭折了。不管我穿不穿袜子和鞋子，我丈夫很喜欢我的小脚，但是他54岁时候过世了。那是我一生中最悲伤的时刻之一。我从来没想再婚，因为我现在仍然觉得他好像还没去世并且还陪着我一样。我们已经结婚80多年了。我年轻时候很高，做事麻利。尽管我脚小，但是我能爬树摘果子、挖土、做饭和打扫卫生。

我们以前是农民，工作很辛苦。尽管我裹脚了，我还是要干活，每天干完活我的脚又会很疼。我生活很艰苦，我孩子年轻的时候，几乎没有什么东西吃，我努力干活养活他们，但是还是入不敷出，我要从别人那里借东西给他们吃。不管我多饿，我多想吃，我永远让我孩子们先吃。我让他们要吃多少吃多少，如果有剩余的，我就会吃点，不然我就饿着。尽管我现在老了，但是我觉得我很健康。我早睡早起，每天早上5点钟就起床了。我然后穿上鞋子，拿着我的拐杖，在院子里走走。我也还能做饭，但是我现在和我孩子们住一起，所以他们照顾我。我有孙子和曾孙，听到他们出生的消息是我一辈子最幸福的时刻之一。每天我女儿都用热水帮我仔细洗脚，我需要新鞋的时候，她就帮我从网上订。每双鞋子都是定制的，大概需要300块。逢年过节对我很重要，我们一家人会团聚，一起吃饭喝酒，看到一大家子和五代同堂，很温馨。几年前，我去天安门玩了一次还拍照了，完成了我其中一个梦想，至此我的梦想全都实现了。我儿子开车带我们去的，还给我拍照了。一直以来很多记者过来看望我、报道我，我觉得很烦人。他们只是过来给我拍几张照片，从来不和我聊天，但是从来没有外国人采访过我。现在我过的很开心

北京

                                                  Humans of China | 人在中国

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