Guest post written by The Lotus Shoes author Jane Yang
Jane Yang was born in the Chinese enclave of Saigon and raised in Australia where she grew up on a diet of superstition and family stories from Old China. Despite establishing a scientific career, first as a pharmacist and later in clinical research, she is still sometimes torn between modern, rational thinking and the pull of old beliefs in tales that have been passed down the family. Jane’s family tales are an inspiration for her writing. She writes stories about women in pre-Communist China, exploring power and class struggles, and sometimes with a dash of suspense, spirits and hauntings.
About The Lotus Shoes: An empowering, uplifting tale of two women from opposite sides of society, and their extraordinary journey of sisterhood, betrayal, love and triumph.
Traditional Chinese embroidery is filled with symbolism—patterns and imageries are rarely arbitrary. Instead, almost every image has a coded meaning. In the late 19th century, when The Lotus Shoes is set, most of the population, especially women, were illiterate. In lieu of the ability to write, women often used symbols to convey a message, express a hope, or pray for a deliverance. There are two main methods to link a symbol with its intended meaning. The most straightforward way is to draw a picture of the desired object. Since chrysanthemums bloom in autumn, thriving when other flowers have wilted, they are a symbol for longevity. For a more cryptic message, visual puns are preferred. The Chinese language (both Mandarin and Cantonese) is monosyllabic. With a repertoire of only approximately four hundred sounds, each one could match a multitude of written characters. It’s a bit like homophones. Let’s take 生菜, shēngcài, as an example. It means lettuce but also sounds very close to 生財,shēng cái, meaning to grow wealth. The accents on the “a” denote a slight difference in the tone, but the written character is completely different. If you’ve ever attended a Chinese New Year celebration, you may recall seeing lettuce as part of the offerings to the Gods or as part of the festive banquet. Sometimes a bunch of lettuce, along with a red pocket, is tied to the lintel or even the second-floor balcony of a shop. If the dragon dancers can successfully retrieve the bundle, good fortune will flow into the business. In return, the performers will be rewarded with the cash inside the red pocket.
Here are some common desires and their correlated symbols, including examples that appear in The Lotus Shoes:
Fertility
In 1880s China, a woman’s worth was directly correlated to her fertility. Under Qing dynasty law, barrenness was one of the main criteria that enabled a man to divorce his wife, often without providing her with any financial security. Once divorced, a woman had to rely on her natal family’s charity for survival. If they rejected her too, then she may have become homeless. Given the pressure to reproduce, women’s clothing was often decorated with fruits or flowers that contain lots of seeds, signaling an abundance of offspring. In The Lotus Shoes, despite marrying four wives, Linjing’s father fails to secure a male heir. In a bid to pray for a son, the women in the household embroider a long panel filled with infant sons, framed by a thick border of pomegranates. It’s an offering to Sung Zi Gun Jam (a son-bestowing deity). Similarly, lotus pods were another popular imagery on young women’s garments and accessories, like hair sticks carved from jade.
Purity
It wasn’t enough for maidens and wives to be fertile; they also had to have an impeccable reputation, free from scandal. For this purpose, the lotus is the quintessential motif. This plant grows in muddy water but remains pristine, symbolizing the ability to rise above temptation. The lotus is so beloved in Chinese culture that even the shape of bound feet (also known as golden lilies) aspired to be the same shape as its bud. In The Lotus Shoes, the thousand-year pursuit of bound feet clashes with the anti-foot-binding movement, turning Little Flower and Linjing’s world upside down.
Marriage
In 19th century China, arranged marriage dominated. As happens in The Lotus Shoes, a daughter was often traded to further her father’s business interests: her personal feelings played no part. Even so, and despite the practice of polygyny, young women like Little Flower still hoped to fall in love with their husband. More importantly, they prayed he would love them best—perhaps he’d be so besotted that he wouldn’t take another wife. To express this wish, a woman would embroider a pair of mandarin ducks on her wedding gown. In the Chinese psyche, this species is believed to mate for life and will die if separated. Butterflies are also symbols of love. In The Butterfly Lovers (a classic Chinese opera), a pair of star-crossed lovers are torn apart by misunderstandings and ill timing, but, in death, they metamorphose into butterflies and spend eternity together. This opera triggers a critical sequence of events in The Lotus Shoes for Little Flower.
Longevity
If a woman in 19th century China was lucky enough to bear sons, then she could look forward to becoming a mother-in-law, a high-status position in the multi-generational household. To reap the rewards of this position, she must pray for a long life. Aside from chrysanthemums, the following flora also symbolize longevity: marigold (known as ten-thousand-birthday flower in Chinese), roses, bamboo, and evergreen pines. The sound for the narcissus flower is very close to the sound for “water fairies,” so it’s often used to express a desire for a long life without aging, just like the immortals in the Chinese myths.
If you enjoyed this article, I hope you’ll read The Lotus Shoes and delve deeper into the Qing dynasty mindset.
