The Cruel Torture of Foot-binding or Three-inch Golden Lotus
The painful tradition of foot-binding in ancient China. its origins, the societal pressures behind it, and the eventual reforms that led to its abolition.
Chinese Weird History
Weird but true stories in ancient Chinese history. May contain unofficial historical material written by people at that time, the so-called ‘野史’.
Cat Weddings in China
In China, bringing home a cat was a mix of tradition, poetry, & a touch of purr-suasion!
‘Cat Garden’ in the Song Dynasty records such an interesting ceremony: ‘Buying fish, threading through willows, escorting a cicada’.
During the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, Huang Han(黃漢) wrote the book ‘Cat Garden(《貓苑》),’ collecting stories about cats.
Among the common practices of raising cats, the easiest method was to wait for a neighbor’s or relative’s female cat to become pregnant and obtain permission from the owner.
12 Chinese Cat Poems by Lu You
In the general impression, Lu You(陸游) is a famous patriotic Chinese poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, full of melancholy. However, compared to lofty mountains, flowing rivers, in reality, he was a devoted cat lover.
Chinese Cat Poems Written by Lu You
Lu You’s famous patriotic poem titled ‘Stormy Winds on November Fourth(《十一月四日風雨大作》)’ is well-known in China, as it appears in many high school textbooks.
僵臥孤村不自哀，尚思為國戍輪台。
~《十一月四日風雨大作》陸游
夜闌臥聽風吹雨，鐵馬冰河入夢來。
Lying stiff in a solitary village, no self-pity within, Still contemplating guarding the frontier for the nation’s win.