Her beauty is of a soft and sleepy cast, as all Chinese beauty should be. — The New York Times (image via New York Public Library Digital Collection) When Afong Moy arrived in America in 1834, she entered a brocade-walled parlor room, decorated with Chinese tapestry and delicate bonsai trees — and there she'd sit, for nine hours a day, while American tourists paid to see her "in her natural environment." The exhibition hall, run by the avaricious Carne brothers, invited visitors to watch Afong eat with chopsticks or pace the room in her bound feet. She sat amongst Chinese trinkets and "artifacts," all for sale, of course, provided you met the Carne brothers' price.
A Woman to Know: Afong Moy
A Woman to Know: Afong Moy
A Woman to Know: Afong Moy
Her beauty is of a soft and sleepy cast, as all Chinese beauty should be. — The New York Times (image via New York Public Library Digital Collection) When Afong Moy arrived in America in 1834, she entered a brocade-walled parlor room, decorated with Chinese tapestry and delicate bonsai trees — and there she'd sit, for nine hours a day, while American tourists paid to see her "in her natural environment." The exhibition hall, run by the avaricious Carne brothers, invited visitors to watch Afong eat with chopsticks or pace the room in her bound feet. She sat amongst Chinese trinkets and "artifacts," all for sale, of course, provided you met the Carne brothers' price.