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Every Step a Lotus: Shoes for Bound Feet
US $26.77
ApproximatelyAU $41.35
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Brand new
A new, unread, unused book in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages. See the seller's listing for full details.
- Buy It NowEvery Step a Lotus: Shoes for Bound Feet
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Located in: Skokie, Illinois, United States
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Estimated between Thu, 7 Aug and Mon, 11 Aug to 94104
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eBay item number:236227316740
Item specifics
- Condition
- Release Year
- 2001
- ISBN
- 9780520232846
About this product
Product Identifiers
Publisher
University of California Press
ISBN-10
0520232844
ISBN-13
9780520232846
eBay Product ID (ePID)
1941693
Product Key Features
Book Title
Every Step a Lotus : Shoes for Bound Feet
Number of Pages
162 Pages
Language
English
Publication Year
2001
Topic
Asian / General, Fashion & Accessories, Gender Studies, Anatomy, Customs & Traditions
Illustrator
Yes
Genre
Design, Art, Social Science, Medical
Format
Trade Paperback
Dimensions
Item Height
0.7 in
Item Weight
22.4 Oz
Item Length
8.2 in
Item Width
9.2 in
Additional Product Features
Intended Audience
Trade
LCCN
2001-027876
Dewey Edition
21
Dewey Decimal
391.41300951
Table Of Content
Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Origins 2 The Ties That Bind 3 Bodies of Work 4 The Speaking Shoe 5 A New World Notes Bibliography Photography Credits Index
Synopsis
In Every Step a Lotus, Dorothy Ko embarks on a fascinating exploration of the practice of footbinding in China, explaining its origins, purpose, and spread before the nineteenth century. She uses women's own voices to reconstruct the inner chambers of a Chinese house where women with bound feet lived and worked. Focusing on the material aspects of footbinding and shoemaking--the tools needed, the procedures, the wealth of symbolism in the shoes, and the amazing regional variations in style--she contends that footbinding was a reasonable course of action for a woman who lived in a Confucian culture that placed the highest moral value on domesticity, motherhood, and handwork. Her absorbing, superbly detailed, and beautifully written book demonstrates that in the women's eyes, footbinding had less to do with the exotic or the sublime than with the mundane business of having to live in a woman's body in a man's world. Footbinding was likely to have started in the tenth century among palace dancers. Ironically, it was meant not to cripple but to enhance their grace. Its meaning shifted dramatically as it became domesticated in the subsequent centuries, though the original hint of sensuality did not entirely disappear. This contradictory image of footbinding as at once degenerate and virtuous, grotesque and refined, is embodied in the key symbol for the practice--the lotus blossom, being both a Buddhist sign of piety and a poetic allusion to sensory pleasures. Every Step a Lotus includes almost one hundred illustrations of shoes from different regions of China, material paraphernalia associated with the customs and rituals of footbinding, and historical images that contextualize the narrative. Most of the shoes, from the collection of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, have not been exhibited before. Readers will come away from the book with a richer understanding of why footbinding carries such force as a symbol and why, long after its demise, it continues to exercise a powerful grip on our imaginations. A Copublication with the Bata Shoe Museum, InEvery Step a Lotus,Dorothy Ko embarks on a fascinating exploration of the practice of footbinding in China, explaining its origins, purpose, and spread before the nineteenth century. She uses women's own voices to reconstruct the inner chambers of a Chinese house where women with bound feet lived and worked. Focusing on the material aspects of footbinding and shoemaking--the tools needed, the procedures, the wealth of symbolism in the shoes, and the amazing regional variations in style--she contends that footbinding was a reasonable course of action for a woman who lived in a Confucian culture that placed the highest moral value on domesticity, motherhood, and handwork. Her absorbing, superbly detailed, and beautifully written book demonstrates that in the women's eyes, footbinding had less to do with the exotic or the sublime than with the mundane business of having to live in a woman's body in a man's world. Footbinding was likely to have started in the tenth century among palace dancers. Ironically, it was meant not to cripple but to enhance their grace. Its meaning shifted dramatically as it became domesticated in the subsequent centuries, though the original hint of sensuality did not entirely disappear. This contradictory image of footbinding as at once degenerate and virtuous, grotesque and refined, is embodied in the key symbol for the practice--the lotus blossom, being both a Buddhist sign of piety and a poetic allusion to sensory pleasures. Every Step a Lotusincludes almost one hundred illustrations of shoes from different regions of China, material paraphernalia associated with the customs and rituals of footbinding, and historical images that contextualize the narrative. Most of the shoes, from the collection of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, have not been exhibited before. Readers will come away from the book with a richer understanding of why footbinding carries such force as a symbol and why, long after its demise, it continues to exercise a powerful grip on our imaginations. A Copublication with the Bata Shoe Museum
LC Classification Number
2001027876
Item description from the seller
Seller feedback (29,994)
- 2***2 (30)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseSeller was great. Had a slight problem with some damage that wasn't in the description that had slipped through their inspections but it was quickly resolved. Even despite the small issue I would definitely recommend. Shipping was timely and item was well packaged.
- a***a (5)- Feedback left by buyer.Past 6 monthsVerified purchaseFantastic seller! Item arrived quickly and was exactly as described—well-packaged, in perfect condition, and even better than I expected. Excellent communication throughout the process. A smooth, professional transaction from start to finish. Thank you!
- w***i (873)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseGreat Seller! Book Appearance In Great Condition As Described! Great Quality And Value! Fantastic Super Fast Shipping! Well Packaged! Everything You Want From A Great Seller! I Would Buy From This Seller Again!
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Seller feedback (29,994)
- 2***2 (30)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseSeller was great. Had a slight problem with some damage that wasn't in the description that had slipped through their inspections but it was quickly resolved. Even despite the small issue I would definitely recommend. Shipping was timely and item was well packaged.
- a***a (5)- Feedback left by buyer.Past 6 monthsVerified purchaseFantastic seller! Item arrived quickly and was exactly as described—well-packaged, in perfect condition, and even better than I expected. Excellent communication throughout the process. A smooth, professional transaction from start to finish. Thank you!
- w***i (873)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseGreat Seller! Book Appearance In Great Condition As Described! Great Quality And Value! Fantastic Super Fast Shipping! Well Packaged! Everything You Want From A Great Seller! I Would Buy From This Seller Again!