Thurin elaborated on British women travel writings about China. “Victorian
138 Mrs. Archibald Little, Intimate China ,177.
women travel writing about China reflects the crossover of [fiction as an out growth of travel writing] in enhancing—or fictionalizing—experience with sensational details… and self-exoticism.”139 “Sense” seemed to be one of the important sources for Mrs. Little in presenting China and its people. She continuously described all kinds of smells as in the following passages.
…as to those from time to time come down from some roadless, gasless , shopless, but smell-ful up-country sojourn, there is one bit of Shanghai that is exceptionally refreshing and delightsome; and that is the garden by the river….Those who care for local colour can find it in this garden quite as well as in the China town…when one can find the local colour without local odours, it is a thing to make note in China140….through a local Convent Garden, full of colour enough, like its prototype in London, but like that, not smell-less141….
There, too are only the flowers I can name. There are numbers more and so fragrant!” 142.…the smells are the great objection to going through the often lovely-looking—from a
distance—villages.143….And before we got there we had to sleep one night in one of the more stinking, dirty towns we ever passed through.144….the sweet sickly opium smell145….with the dank smell of earth outside146….There were boys burning something that had a horrible smell in the great incense burner147….we never wished to go outside (of the British embassy) again to face that vile mews, with its holes, its dust and its smell. 148
Her abundant use of sense probably arose from Mrs. Little’s literary style picked up from her reading. It also set her writings apart from male British
139 Thurin, 22
140 Mrs. Archibald Little, Intimate China , 29
141 Ibid.,30
travel writers and potentially unveiled another Victorian common view. In 1824, in Blackwoods, American author John Neal advanced his theory of
imagination.
Imagination, I believe, to be always in proportion to animal sensibility, and to the delicacy of animal organization; women, I delicately organized , than men; and , therefore, do I believe that women have more imagination than men.…Have you ever heard of a great mathematician, mechanic, or theologian, who was
remarkable for his imagination, or at all remarkable of this animal sensibility—or very irritable in his temper—or exceedingly alive to the delicacies of touch, flavour, sound, sight, or smell?—never. For, if he had been so, he would never have been distinguished for
abstract, severe, thoughtful science.149
Neal believed that women have more delicate senses and therefore are more imaginative and less scientific. Rather than discuss the accuracy of Neal’s argument, it is reasonable to consider it a common Victorian view. It remained unknown whether Mrs. Little employed vast amounts of descriptions of smells simply as a literary technique or as unconscious conformity to
Victorian writing norms— or in Freudian terms—Eros. Whatever the
explanation, Mrs. Little painted China with the brush of the nose as a smelly, odorous land.
Unbinding Foot Movement
149 Elizabeth K Helsinger,et al. The woman question: society and literature in Britain and America, 1837-1883. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1983), 16-17
Figure 3. Comparison between bind and unbind feet. The photos are from Intimate China.
With Little’s relocation from England to China, Mrs. Little left the dominant Victorian conception of womanhood and allowed her to reformulate herself into another social arena, which empowered her in ways she would not have been able to experience in the Victorian society. Little took the opportunity to get involved with Chinese affairs.
In 1895 Little joined one of the meetings of the Society of Diffusion of Christian and General Knowledge(廣學會)150 and was inspired by Reverend Macgowen. SDGK was a Christian organization that distributed Christian literature in China in the hope of making China stronger and safer.151 At the time Reverend Timothy Richard was the secretary of SDGK and Reverend John Macgowen had just started his unbinding foot movement. Zito in
Secularizing the Pain of Footbinding in China described their meeting. “[H]e
(John Macgowen) was introduced to Mrs. Archibald Little by Missionary Timothy Richards...she (Mrs. Archibald Little) was convened at a meeting of150 It will be shorten as SDGK.
151 Gregory A.Wagner, Mrs. Archibald Little as an Educator and Activist with Emphasis on Her Anti-Footbinding Activities., (M.A Thes.,National Taiwan University, 2002.), 37.
Shanghai’s foreign elite to hear Macgowen speak.”152 After their meeting, Little decided to organize her own T’ien Tzu Hui153 (天足會) at Shanghai to promote the unbinding foot movement.
Reverend Macgowen was a Missionary who was dedicated to the
unbinding foot movement. He described footbinding as “one of the caste that bound the Empire of China, imperious, cruel, savage in its demands and impervious to the deepest instinct of the human heart.”154 At the first Tien Tzu Hui (TTH) meeting Reverend Macgowen made the following statement:
The [bound] feet of the women of China, I declared, were not the result of Heaven’s creative thought, but were the debased ideals of the past that during the passing centuries had been forced upon women. “It now will be the work of the Society,” I continued, “to drive out from every Chinese home the cruel custom of footbinding, and to restore the women to the Divine conception that God at first
conceived for her in His creation of her.”155
Although Reverend Macgowen and Mrs. Little’s campaigns were both called T’ien Tzu Hui in Chinese, the English translation was different.
Reverend Macgowen translated it into “Heavenly Foot Society”; Mrs. Little translated it into “Natural Foot Society.” Zito pointed out that the differences between Reverend Macgowen’s (Heavenly Foot Society) and Mrs. Little’s (Natural Foot Society) descriptions were reflections of their concepts of the natural body.156 Reverend Macgowen believed that the human body was
152 Angela Zito, ‘Secularizing the Pain of Footbinding in China: Missionary and Medical Stagings of the Universal Body.’ in Journey of the American Academy of Religion, Volume 75, No.1, 2007, 4.
153 It will be shorten as TTH.
154 John Macgowen, 32
155 Ibid., 65.
156 Zito,“Secularizing the Pain of Footbinding in China”, 3-6.
given and created by God. Mrs. Little believed that the health of the body was a matter of hygiene. Both of their concepts concerning the “natural body” were common in the nineteenth century. Due to their different views of bound feet, Reverend Macgowen and Mrs. Little took different routes to promote the cause.
Mrs. Little avoided associating the campaign with Missionary work by having no Missionary members in the society. The reason for Mrs. Little to
disassociate herself from the Missionaries was to decrease the possibilities of precipitating anti-foreign or anti-missionary riots.157 Mrs. Little chose drawing rooms and private houses as their meeting places and did not hold their meetings at churches or other Missionary affiliated locations.
Mrs. Archibald Little advocated two courses of action, one is to stop such tradition being practiced onto young girls; the other was to unbind the feet which were already bound. Therefore Mrs. Little started to travel extensively through the Southern China included Hankow(漢口), Wuchang(武昌),
Han-Yang(漢陽), Canton(廣東), Hong Kong(香港), Macao(澳門), Swatow(汕頭), Amoy(廈門), Foochow(福州), Hangchow(杭州) and Soochow(蘇州) to promote and spread out the campaign.
Mrs. Little started the campaign in Chinese Lady’s drawing rooms. All her lady guests were from the upper-class of the region. Mrs. commented,
The wealth of embroideries on the occasion was a thing to remember. One young lady could look neither to the right nor to the left, so bejeweled was she ; indeed, altogether she was a masterpiece of art…Everyone came, and many brought friends ; and all brought
157 Chia-lin Pao Tao, 150.
children, in their best clothes too, like the most beautiful dolls. 158
Instead of making foot-binding a comparison between the East and West, progress and backward, Mrs. Archibald Little emphasized the brutality of foot-binding, its physical and psychological suffering, its mortality rate. She invited both European and Chinese doctors to the meetings and explained how foot-binding could have fatal results. Additionally, Little had a special prop to illustrate their point of view:
“Next a missionary lady in fluent Chinese explained the circulation of the blood, and with an indiarubber pipe showed the effect of binding some part of it. There were no interruptions then.
This seemed to the Chinese ladies practical, and it was quite striking to see how attentively they listened.”159
It was both educational and visually stimulating. It had raised not only Chinese women but also men’s concerns toward the issue. Later Mrs. Little quoted a Chinese gentleman, Mr. Chou:
Foreign women have natural feet; they are daring, and can defend themselves; whilst Chinese women have bound feet, and are too weak even to bear the weight of their own clothes. They think it looks nice; but in reality it does not look nice, and weakens their bodies, often causing their death.160
By adapting a more Chinese friendly approach, Mrs. Little’s campaign seemed to have great results. However, that was not the primary reason the
158 Mrs. Archibald Little, Intimate China ,151.
159 Mrs. Archibald Little, Intimate China ,152.
160 Ibid.,162.
campaign prospered. The most important reason came from the Chinese themselves. The Chinese intellectuals contributed the point of view in association with being defeated by the Japanese during the First
Sino-Japanese War. It was shocking, unbelievable and mostly humiliating for the Late Qing Chinese Empire. Chao Zu-de (趙祖德) depicted this view in
Notes on Anti-Footbinding Association in Current Affairs Newspaper (時務報),
The Sino-Japan war, our army lost completely, and was forced to cede territory and pay indemnities. It caused the greatest humiliations throughout Chinese five thousands history….Ever since then, the whole court realized the trauma, pain and then as if waken up by the dream, met a harsh teacher, cane the naughty child and make him harden its body and soul. We need to repent and strive for progress…. Luckily there were two men, Lai and Chen from Canton started the anti-footbinding association in Canton.161
In 1895, Kang Youwei (康有為) started his own anti-footbinding campaign, the Pu Tsan Tsu Hui (不纏足會) in Canton. Kang as a well-respected Chinese intellectual, his campaign ignited the public awareness for the matter and had helped out Mrs. Little’s campaign in degrees. Mrs. Little’s TTH started to invite political influential figures to write for their campaign such as Chang-chih-tung, Viceroy of Hupeh and Hunan162 (湖廣總督), the Viceroy of Naking163 (兩江總 督), and the Viceroy of Chihli(直隸總督).164
161 Chao, Zu-de. (趙祖德)Notes on Anti-Footbinding Association in Current Affairs Newspaper. Volume 45, 1897 November 15.
162 Ibid.,155-156
163 Ibid.,156. In Intiamte China, Mrs. Little only addressed it as Viceroy of Naking with no name or reference. It might be Liu kunyi (劉坤一)who was political allie with
Chang-chih-tung and was in office from 1890-1902.
164 Ibid. Mrs. Little addressed the official as Viceroy of Chihli, it should be the Viceroy of Zhili (直隸總督). Mrs. Little did not mention the name of the Viceroy, it could be Wang win-shiao 王文韶(1895-1898), Ronglu榮祿 (1898), Yuan Shikai 袁世凱(1898,1901-1902 ), Yulu 裕
With Mrs. Little’s vigorous effort, her campaign received great feedbacks.
Duke Kung Hui-chang referred her as “wise daughters from foreign lands.” 165 FooChow Taotai (福州道台) called her as “You are just like Kwanyin Pusa.” [觀 音菩薩] (the Chinese Goddess of Mercy). Hitherto we Chinese have had but one Kwanyn. But now we have two. You are the second.”166
By the time Little returned to England in 1907, she was certain that the practice of footbinding was a dying one.
祿(1898) or Li Hung-Chang李鴻章(1900-1901).
165 In Intimate China, Mrs. Archibald Little claimed the duke was : one of the lineal
descendents of Confucius. (IC : 156.) Mrs. Archibald Little was in China from 1886-1907, during that time the duke who was one of the lineal descendents was 孔令貽, 字谷孫，號 燕庭. The name Kung Hui-chang remaind unknown.
166 Mrs. Archibald Little,The Land of the Blue Gown, 356.
Conclusion
Mrs. Archibald Little was indeed an amazing British woman travel writer in the nineteenth-century. It was admirable that Mrs. Little had the courage to travel around China especially when the situation, tension toward foreigners was high and horrifying. Mrs. Archibald Little’s description, “The cry of "Slay the foreigner!" was a novelty that year. It has become very common since then”167 could demonstrate well on the hostility of such situation. Such intensity would force her to examine the relationship between the British Empire, its value system (whether in the perspective for women or to other country) and its people.
Although Mrs. Little was well respected as Chinese authority within British Empire, Gertrude Bell, a well known Victorian women traveler “whose brilliant political work in the Near East would earn her the title of “uncrowned queen of Iraq”.”168 once made the following comment on Little,
Mr. and Mrs. Archibald Little were there - she is a truly awful lady. She wore a mustard yellow dress which was exactly the same colour as her skin, so that for some time I did not notice she had a low gown on and Hugo never observed it at all! She has a very vivacious manner and a heavy black moustache. Her husband doesn't count. Dr. Morrison says her books are pretty feeble, but as they are popular he hopes she will write a great many more, for he rejoices to see any interest roused about China.169
Bell’s comment might not be flattering but it had shown a more human
167 Mrs. Archibald Little, Intimate China ,257.
168 Thurin,“Travel Writing and the Humanitarian Impulse”,92
169 For Gertrude Bell’s letters, diraries and photographs, University of New Castle has the full online collection : Gertrude Bell Archive http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk/index.php This qutation of Gertrude Bell’s letter in May 5th, 1903 is at the following website :
http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk/letter_details.php?letter_id=1398
side of Mrs. Little. Mrs. Little was someone who would be considered as eccentric and not an average Victorian lady. Therefore Bell’s comments such as “awful” or “very heavy black mustache” might reflect from the Victorian gender stereotype or simply despiteful. Nevertheless, the description showed Mrs. Little was not into the appearance but was more into her writings.
A renowned illustrator Harry Furniss once recorded his meeting with Mrs.
Little whom he found “delightful and interesting,”
One I was asked to meet at dinner for a special reason, which I should like to record. The lady who desired to “renew” my
acquaintance was the celebrated authoress, Mrs. Archibald
Little, whose Intimate China had just then made a great hit. She is a delightful and interesting lady, and I was curious to know why she had so mysteriously wished to meet me without disclosing her object. As we sat at dinner the mystery was disclosed. I was, so she declared, a man with a past. She knew, though others did not, a secret in my life….The Furniss Mrs. Little had confused with me was my half-brother, a young man who was five-and-twenty years of age when I was born. …For one reason alone I was glad to pass as a very old man with a past, for it led to an interesting meeting with a very charming authoress. 170
During different encounters and situations, Mrs. Little had made different impressions to people. In Mrs. Little’s eyes, China and its people were also filled with all kinds of colors. As a nation, China was old, weak and could not compete with not only British Empire but also America and Japan.171 However as an ancient civilization, the romantic East, Little praised highly about the Chinese culture, values and Chinese through out the book. Such duality
170 Harry Furrnis, Some Victorian Women - Good, Bad, and Indifferent. (London: John Lane The Bodley Head, 1923), 3-14.
171 Mrs. Archibald Little, Intimate China ,287-291
demonstrated her careful and comprehensive observations and also indicated the nature of uncertainty of her identity.
Though this thesis had devoted a great effort to gather information and portray Mr. Little’s life as detail as possible. There were still a lot of blanks and mysteries for future researchers to discover and fill in. For example, Mrs.
Little’s childhood on Madeira Island, background of the Bewicke family, Mrs.
Little’s early works and its critics received.