[book review] Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See
A work of historical fiction, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a story of a girl named Lily. Set in nineteenth-century China in a remote Hunan county, the story delves into the intricacies of the culture of pre-modern China, and more specifically, it’s influence on the lives of women. The author, Lisa See, manages to brilliantly outline the life of Lily from when to she is seven, up until her death. At seven, Lily is paired with Snow Flower, a girl from another village, as her ‘laotong’, a sort of a customary official friendship match between two females that is meant to last a lifetime, which it kind of does - with some complexities.
The highlight of the book, at least for me, was the practice of foot-binding. Foot binding was the custom of applying tight binding to the feet of young girls to modify the shape and size of their feet. The aim was to acquire small “lotus feet”. The perfect bound feet (around 7-9 cm) were called “golden lotuses”, the smaller ones “silver lotuses”, “iron lotuses” and so on. At this point, I could not, for the love of God, manage to visualize a foot that was only 7 cm, so I googled it and found an image, which I add here for those of you who feel the same.
The smaller the girl’s feet become after binding, the more attractive she is considered, and the more prestigious her marriage would be - bringing more wealth to her maternal family. I found it almost impossible to believe that women were subjected to such a barbarous practice. I mean, imagining having your worth decided by the size of your feet? That is exactly what these women went through. Moreover, it was, at its core, mutilation. Blood, breaking bones, putrefaction, infection, and risk of death even. Around one out of ten girls who had their foot bound died due to infection. And even those who survived were practically semi-crippled. Throughout the book, I just had one burning question in my mind - “Whoever came up with the idea of foot-binding in the first place?” Like, how did it even take form? Was it a man, who one day realized he liked women better with smaller feet, even if meant bending and breaking their bones? Or was it a woman who thought her feet were too big and ugly and hence decided to bind it and see what happens? I do not pretend to have an understanding of Chinese culture, but it is beyond my grasp as to why such a grotesque process was normalized. I could not find any information online as to the origin of this particular practice either (if anyone knows something about this, please do share!).
Foot-binding aside, a woman’s life was considered practically worthless, except for bearing children. Oh wait, did I say children? I meant sons. For bearing sons. They are also largely isolated from the men of the household. For example, unmarried women have to stay in the upper chamber of the house only. It is repeatedly emphasized that a woman who cannot bear a son is considered worthless by her in-laws. The oppression of women described in this book is nothing like I have ever seen or heard of before. I cannot even begin to count the number of times I went “Wait, what? But WHY?”
Putting aside my issues with the culture, the main plot of the story is about the friendship, or rather, the ‘laotong’ relationship between Lily and Snow Flower. They have this deeply sentimental relationship that spans decades. In spite of the tragedies both of them go through, they keep their friendship alive through letters and visits. It is a beautiful friendship to witness, except that tragedy after tragedy strikes the two women. The friendship even seemed to turn subtly erotic at some points during their teenage, which made absolutely no sense to me, but hey, who am I to judge?
Also, there were some appealing connotations. ‘Nu Shu’ was an exclusive script that women used for communication with one another. I specifically liked this aspect, as it seemed to signify the tiniest little act of rebellion, since women had been forbidden formal education for centuries. I found the concept of ‘laotong’ fascinating too. Imagine having something like that in today’s world? Overall, the book made me appreciate the liberty and independence that women enjoy today, the complexities of unconditional friendship, and most of all, my big working feet!
The highlight of the book, at least for me, was the practice of foot-binding. Foot binding was the custom of applying tight binding to the feet of young girls to modify the shape and size of their feet. The aim was to acquire small “lotus feet”. The perfect bound feet (around 7-9 cm) were called “golden lotuses”, the smaller ones “silver lotuses”, “iron lotuses” and so on. At this point, I could not, for the love of God, manage to visualize a foot that was only 7 cm, so I googled it and found an image, which I add here for those of you who feel the same.
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| Lotus Feet |
The smaller the girl’s feet become after binding, the more attractive she is considered, and the more prestigious her marriage would be - bringing more wealth to her maternal family. I found it almost impossible to believe that women were subjected to such a barbarous practice. I mean, imagining having your worth decided by the size of your feet? That is exactly what these women went through. Moreover, it was, at its core, mutilation. Blood, breaking bones, putrefaction, infection, and risk of death even. Around one out of ten girls who had their foot bound died due to infection. And even those who survived were practically semi-crippled. Throughout the book, I just had one burning question in my mind - “Whoever came up with the idea of foot-binding in the first place?” Like, how did it even take form? Was it a man, who one day realized he liked women better with smaller feet, even if meant bending and breaking their bones? Or was it a woman who thought her feet were too big and ugly and hence decided to bind it and see what happens? I do not pretend to have an understanding of Chinese culture, but it is beyond my grasp as to why such a grotesque process was normalized. I could not find any information online as to the origin of this particular practice either (if anyone knows something about this, please do share!).
Foot-binding aside, a woman’s life was considered practically worthless, except for bearing children. Oh wait, did I say children? I meant sons. For bearing sons. They are also largely isolated from the men of the household. For example, unmarried women have to stay in the upper chamber of the house only. It is repeatedly emphasized that a woman who cannot bear a son is considered worthless by her in-laws. The oppression of women described in this book is nothing like I have ever seen or heard of before. I cannot even begin to count the number of times I went “Wait, what? But WHY?”
Putting aside my issues with the culture, the main plot of the story is about the friendship, or rather, the ‘laotong’ relationship between Lily and Snow Flower. They have this deeply sentimental relationship that spans decades. In spite of the tragedies both of them go through, they keep their friendship alive through letters and visits. It is a beautiful friendship to witness, except that tragedy after tragedy strikes the two women. The friendship even seemed to turn subtly erotic at some points during their teenage, which made absolutely no sense to me, but hey, who am I to judge?
Also, there were some appealing connotations. ‘Nu Shu’ was an exclusive script that women used for communication with one another. I specifically liked this aspect, as it seemed to signify the tiniest little act of rebellion, since women had been forbidden formal education for centuries. I found the concept of ‘laotong’ fascinating too. Imagine having something like that in today’s world? Overall, the book made me appreciate the liberty and independence that women enjoy today, the complexities of unconditional friendship, and most of all, my big working feet!
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