摘要
一八九五年四月間，十餘名西方各國寓居上海的女士，成立了一個帶有社會運動組織色彩的團體，名為「天足會」，以革除中國婦女纏足習俗為目標。天足會的創始會員，從社會階層來看，稱得上是「名媛貴婦」，她們丈夫的身分包括了駐滬外交官、工部局董事、洋行老闆等等，可說全是上海租界裡的權力菁英。這群在晚清時期因緣際會來到中國的名媛貴婦，經由組織天足會此一企圖革除特定異國文化風俗的團體，共同開啟了屬於她們的社會參與空間。不過，天足會不像地區性的傳教士反纏足團體那樣，可以透過教堂或教會學校來動員華人教徒或學員，也不像中國知識分子成立的不纏足會能以《時務報》等維新事業為後盾，向同儕士紳們宣揚勸戒纏足理念；它是一個憑空崛起的團體，缺乏既存的組織基礎可供依恃，因此，當它進行實務運作時，難免要面臨自我定位模糊和缺乏穩定財源的窘境。本文從資源動員的角度入手，透過多樣化的中外史料文獻，考察了天足會的經費問題及其募款活動、它與地方教會的競合，以及它對西方及中國男性權力菁英的政治關係和文化資源的依憑。最後，本文也論及天足會貴婦們與中國啟蒙女性（改革派知識分子的女眷們）的歷史交會及其意義。
In April of 1895, a group of Western women founded the Natural Feet Society in Shanghai. The Society condemned Chinese footbinding as a cruel and injurious practice and called for funds and friends to assist their movement and create public sentiment against footbinding. These elite women, or “memsahibs,” whose husbands were diplomats, merchants, and other influential foreigners in late-Qing treaty-port communities, developed a secular anti-footbinding discourse which diverged from missionary discourses of the time. In so doing, these women created a social space for themselves through which they could participate in public life even far away from their homelands. However, unlike missionaries and indigenous reformers whose anti-footbinding movements were initiated and backed by previously established organizational bases and networks, the Society (led by Alicia Little, wife of British merchant Archibald Little) encountered difficulties when mobilizing material and cultural resources and had to find its own niche in developing a secular and female-oriented discourse. This article analyzes the strategies the Society used to compete and cooperate with local churches and the connections it employed to obtain influential support from both Western and Chinese male political and cultural elites. The convergence of and crossover between members of the Society and Chinese female reformers of the time is also discussed in the article.
關鍵詞
天足會 立德夫人 纏足 反纏足運動 晚清寓華「洋貴婦」
Natural Feet Society, Alicia Little (Mrs. Archibald Little), footbinding, anti-footbinding movements, “memsahibs” in late-Qing China