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Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China
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Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China Paperback - 2002

by Wang Ping

From the publisher

Wang Ping’s books include American Visa, a collection of short stories; Foreign Devil, a novel; and Of Flesh and Spirit, a collection of poetry. Born in Shanghai, she holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature from New York University and teaches creative writing at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.

From the jacket flap

When Wang Ping was nine years old, she secretly set about binding her feet with elastic bands. Footbinding had by then been outlawed in China, women's feet "liberated," but at that young age she desperately wanted the tiny feet her grandmother had-deformed and malodorous as they were. By first examining the root of her own girlhood desire, Wang unleashes a fascinating inquiry into a centuries-old custom.
Aching for Beauty combines Wang's unique perspective and remarkable literary gifts in an award-winning exploration of the history and culture surrounding footbinding. In setting out to demystify this reviled tradition, Wang probes an astonishing range of literary references, addresses the relationship between beauty and pain, and discusses the intense female bonds that footbinding fostered. Her comprehensive examination of the notions of hierarchy, femininity, and fetish bound up in the tradition places footbinding in its proper context in Chinese history and opens a window onto an intriguing culture.

Details

  • Title Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China
  • Author Wang Ping
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition 2nd Printing
  • Pages 288
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Anchor Books, New York, New York, U.S.A
  • Date 2002-03-12
  • Features Bibliography, Index
  • ISBN 9780385721363 / 0385721366
  • Weight 0.67 lbs (0.30 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.04 x 5.2 x 0.64 in (20.42 x 13.21 x 1.63 cm)
  • Themes
    • Cultural Region: Asian - Chinese
    • Sex & Gender: Feminine
  • Library of Congress subjects Women - China - Social conditions, Footbinding - China - History
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2001045761
  • Dewey Decimal Code 391.41

Media reviews

“Wang Ping writes with passion and an understanding strengthened by the female experience. This is a rich, necessary, and invaluable book.”–Ha Jin, author of Waiting

“Impeccable…. [A] house of Chinese wonders…. Wang takes on a giant storehouse of subject matter and glides through its labyrinthine corridors in fluid, often intuitive moves…. Fascinating.”–San Francisco Bay Guardian

“Eloquently and thoroughly documents a custom that for 1,000 years symbolized not only attractiveness, but gentility, virtue and high status…. [Wang Ping] peels back the layers of fear, desire and social climbing…like so many lotus petals.”–Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

About the author

Wang Ping's books include American Visa, a collection of short stories; Foreign Devil, a novel; and Of Flesh and Spirit, a collection of poetry. Born in Shanghai, she holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature from New York University and teaches creative writing at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.

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Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China

by Ping, Wang

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Aching for Beauty : Footbinding in China

Aching for Beauty : Footbinding in China

by Wang Ping

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China
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Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China

by Wang Ping

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780385721363 / 0385721366
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Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China

Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China

by Ping, Wang

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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Aching for Beauty : Footbinding in China
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Aching for Beauty : Footbinding in China

by Ping, Wang

  • Used
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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780385721363 / 0385721366
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Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China

by Ping, Wang

  • Used
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Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780385721363 / 0385721366
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Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China

by Ping, Wang

  • Used
  • Paperback
Condition
Used
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780385721363 / 0385721366
Quantity Available
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Lincoln, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
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This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
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Description:
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2002. This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside.This book has soft covers. In good all round condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item,350grams, ISBN:9780385721363
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NZ$14.38
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Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China

by Ping, Wang

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China

by Ping, Wang

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Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780385721363 / 0385721366
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Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China

by Ping, Wang

  • Used
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  • Paperback
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Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780385721363 / 0385721366
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