Photographs of Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, leaving hospital just
hours after giving birth to a girl on Saturday, sparked debate online in China
about "yuezi", the 30 day postpartum rest period.
The tradition of yuezi
dates back as far as the Western Han Dynasty (B.C. 202-A.D.9). Following labor,
many women are house bound, deprived of cold food and drinks, and even forgo hot
showers for a whole month in a bid to regain physical and mental equilibrium.
Chinese women are told if they do not undergo yuezi they will suffer
from health problems in later life.
Therefore, it comes as no surprise
that Chinese netizens were taken aback by Kate's public appearance for the
cameras, posing babe-in-arms -- and in high-heels nonetheless -- just ten hours
after her delivery.
This very public display of such a high-profile
woman, just mere hours after labor, resulted in people reflecting on the place
yuezi has in modern society.
One user on China's twitter-like microblog,
weibo.com, "maoyanzhu", said that Kate's doctor must have approved her public
appearance, which showed it was perfectly ok not to practice "yuezi". Another
user, "rongxiangxiang", said: "I hated [yuezi], because I was confined to bed,
denied TV, my cellphone and couldn't even brush my teeth."
Others argued
that the tradition was not only an important part of Chinese culture but
highlighted the physical differences between Chinese and caucasian.
Another weibo user, "Mengmengda", said as the tradition was passed on
from generation to generation, it must make sense, adding that the eastern
mindset of respecting traditions and the older generation had meant that the
tradition had not been forgotten.
Regardless of the arguments, it is
hard not to agree, on some level, with the obvious benefit of a period of
postpartum rest to new mothers.
Weibo user "Liyun" said she
wholeheartedly believed in "yuezi" as it helped Chinese women to recover.
"Due to different diet and geographical environments, we cannot look to
other countries for maternity health norms," she added.
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