chinese history

Researching the history of the iconic cheongsam, the Chinese traditional dress

/ Yang-May Ooi / Leave a comment

On this wet Sunday afternoon, I am feeling very sorry for myself – laid up with a cold – but I am distracting myself by researching the history of the the cheongsam for Bound Feet Blues, The Book.


What I am learning is that clothing has national and political significance. The cheongsam originated with Manchu rule in China when the Manchurians from the North East overthrew the Ming Dynasty in 1644. They required all men to wear their hair in a plait – known as a queue – and everyone had to wear clothing in the Manchu style: with the high collar and side buttons. Those who defied this requirement could be punished by death. It was a way of dominating the Continue reading →

Imagine a grown woman with baby feet

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It’s difficult for us in the modern world to imagine how small bound feet were. Whenever I say to people that some of the smallest bound feet were only 3 inches long, they register that that is small but it’s only when they see exactly how small 3 inches is, that the horror of it hits them.

In order to illustrate how tiny bound feet were for “Breaking Tradition”, my award-winning talk inspired by the stories in Bound Feet Blues, I went online to order a pair of baby shoes. I searched and searched for baby shoes that were 3 inches long but the smallest size that I could find came to just over 4 inches.

The photo above shows me holding those 4+ inch baby shoes during Continue reading →

Experience London’s Chinese history “on location” in Limehouse – The Last Days of Limehouse [live show]

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It’s rare to see theatre pieces in the UK about the Chinese experience of life and featuring Chinese actors. So I’m excited that Yellow Earth Theatre are putting on The Last Days of Limehouse,  a live drama about the Chinese community in Limehouse, London’s original Chinatown.

LimehouseMarketing Image

From the Half Moon Theatre website, with thanks

 

It is a promenade show, which means that it different scenes are enacted in different locations and the audience moves from place to place as the story progresses. The show starts at Limehouse Town Hall where it dramatizes a town hall meeting that took place in 1958 in that very same building. From there, the story will unfold in Continue reading →