Footbinding

There is some disagreement about when footbinding began in China. It has been suggested that it began as early as the Shang Dynasty and as late as the Song Dynasty.(Ebrey, 160) At the very least though, the custom lasted for well over a thousand years, until well into the 20th Century. These pictures are all of women from the late 19th or early 20th Century

Size comparison: regular size woman's shoe (from WWI era), woman's bound feet & a teacup. Photo by by otisarchives3.Click here for original source.

These pictures show only the result of footbinding, not the terrible and excruciatingly painful process by which these result were obtained.

Origins

Even though there are some disagreements about when exactly footbinding began, there is a general time frame for when it likely started. Footbinding possibly originated during the fifty years between the Tang and Song dynasties, roughly 907-959 A.D. During this time it wasfashionable for women to walk slowly and sway. Also,both men and women compressed their feet moderately. Between 750-1100 A.D. footbinding became a female custom and spread to all parts of society. The practice originated in the north, and followed the migration patterns and moved its way south. Footbindng did not become as prevalent in the South as it did in the North, primarily due to the fact that women were a larger part of the labor force in the South(Greenhalgh 8)

During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.), footbinding received popular and official sanction. By the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912 A.D.) the custom of footbinding was so prevalent that when the first Manchu Emperor in 1644 attempted to ban the custom, but failed. In the nineteenth century, footbinding reached its highest prevelance. This is an interesting fact considering the ruling dynasty did not practice footbinding. (Greenhalgh 8)

Story of First Footbinding

In the Southern Tang Dynasty (961-975 A.D.), the court of the Emperor Li Yu had a large number of courtesans and dancers. Among these dancers, Li Yu had a favorite. Her name was Yao-niang. Li Yu built her a six foot high golden lotus. This golden lotus was covered with jewels, pearls, and golden threads. Li Yu then ordered Yao-niang to bind her feet with strips of white silk, making them small, graceful, and in the shape of the crescent moon. Yao-niang was then supposed to dance on this golden lotus. (Greenhalgh 8-9)

After this, the term "golden lotus" became a euphemism for bound feet, because of the resemblance between a bound foot and a lotus. The bound foot became the aesthetic ideal and fashionable. (Greenhalgh, 9)

Even though it is not necessarily known who bound the first feet, The story of the first bound foot shows what the ideal was for the custom of footbinding.

Who Had Their Feet Bound?

Footbinding could be seen in girls and women throughout the different social classes, however it was seen less in lower social classes becuase of the need for women being able to work. Footbinding usually began around age five or six. However, in upper class footbinding sometimes started at age three, and in lower classes it did not happen until the age twelve or thirteen. This process was always done by the mother or grandmother. Mothers did this to their daughter in hopes of finding a husband for their daughters and to keep or raise the family's social standing.(Greenhalgh, 9)

Even though footbinding custom and was done in lower class families, it was not always economically possible to bind the feet of all the daughters. In the lower class, the daughters feet were only bound if there was hope for marrying them into higher status families. In this situation, girls feet were bound late compared to girls in higher-class families. The bindings on these girls were not bound nearly as tight which allowed the girls to do household chores, work in fields, or find indoor employment. (Greenhalgh, 8)

For the families that could not afford to bind their daughters feet, the feet were left normal. These girls then worked in the fields or in shops of carpenters or blacksmiths. (Greenhalgh, 8)

How to Bind Feet

Comparison of a normal foot and a foot that has gone through the footbinding process. Image by Marco L.

When a young girl was about 6 years old her feet would be bound for the first time. First, her feet would usually be soaked in a mixture of liquids (the ingredients varied- anything from plain water to animal blood) believed to soften the bones for the work ahead. Then, her toenails were cut and her four smaller toes were folded under the main part of the foot and tightly wrapped. (Often the bones in these toes were broken at this time. If they were not broken now, they would be later.) Then the entire foot was tightly wrapped around both the foot and the ankle, to draw the ball of the foot as close as possible to the heel. As the wrappings dried, the foot would be bound even tighter pulling the ball of the foot even closer to the heel and deforming (sometimes even breaking) the arch of the foot. The young girl would be required to walk on her bound feet, breaking the smaller toes, if not already broken. Eventually, if the procedure did not cost her her life, her feet would heal in the new position. The pain would never entirely go away. Frequently her feet would became infected and sometimes some of the flesh would die and need to be removed. This was considered a good thing because it allowed the foot to be bound even more tightly. All of this so that a mother could give her daughter the smallest possible feet, ideally 3 inches long (Ebrey,160)

Here is an account of the footbinding process from someone who endured the process:

"Born into an old-fashioned family at P'ing-hsi,

I was inflicted with the pain of footbinding when I

was was seven years old . . . I wept and hid in a neighbor's

home, but mother found me, scolded me, and

dragged me home. She shut the bedroom door, boiled

water, and from a box withdrew binding, shoes, knife,

needle, and thread . . . She washed and placed alum

on my feet and cut the toenails. She then bent my

toes toward the plantar with a binding cloth ten

feet long and two inches wide, doing the right foot

first and then the left. She finished binding and

ordered me to walk, but when I did the pain proved

unbearable.

That night, mother wouldn't let me remove the

shoes. My feet felt on fire and I couldn't sleep;

mother struck me for crying . . . The feet were

washed and rebound after three or four days, with

alum added. After several months, all toes but the

big one were pressed against the inner surface . . .

Mother would remove the bindings and wipe the blood

and pus which dripped from my feet. She told me

that only with removal of the flesh could my feet

become slender. If I mistakenly punctured a sore,

the blood gushed like a stream.

Every two weeks, I changed to new shoes. Each

new pair was one- to two-tenths of an inch smaller

than the previous one . . . After changing more than

ten pairs of shoes, my feet were reduced to a little

over four inches . . . Four of the toes were curled

in like so many dead caterpillars; no outsider

would ever have believed that they belonged to a

human being. It took two years to achieve the

three-inch model . . ." (Greenhalgh, 9)

By reading an account of the process from someone who actually endured it, makes it a little easier to understand what women went through. About one out of ten girls died from the process of footbinding, or the effects it had after it was done. A higher percentage of the deaths from footbinding would have occured in the countryside. This was due to the fact that in the countryside there was not as much knowledge on how to fight infections.(Greenhalgh, 9-10)

Care of Bound

Not just in China. This woman is from Toronto. Photo by Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. Click here for original source.

Photo of the type of shoes women with bound feet wore. Photo by Queensland Museum

The pain from footbinding never fully went away. Only women who had mothers who were skilled at the process had the pain subside after a year or two. At this time, it became the woman's job to care for her bound feet. Caring for bound feet was always done in private, because the possibility of someone seeing the unbound foot was considered taboo.(Greenhalgh, 10)

Once a week, women would soak their bandaged feet in hot water. They would then remove the bandages, and any dead skin or calluses would be rubbed and cut off. Women also had to perfume their feet in order to hide the smell. The feet were then kneaded into the desired shape, dusted with alum, and rebound quickly in order to preserve the shape. (Greenhalgh, 10)

Embroidered shoes with one or two inch wooden heels were worn. The shoes were shaped in order to help women walk with their now mishaped feet. The heels helped balance and support the body. Women usually had more than one pair of shoes, if they could afford them, including a pair for special occasions. (Greenhalgh, 10)

The ankles of women with bound feet were affected the footbinding process. Ankles were swollen and deformed, and in order to hide this women wore leggings which were fastened above the calf and hung down far enough just to show the tiny foot in its embroidered shoes.(Greenhalgh, 10)

Walking on these poor feet, was an exercise in pain. After all, the women's toes were now tucked into the sole of her feet. To walk, she either had to walk on her toes, or, learn to walk on just her heels (It is not easy to do.) Walking only on your heals gave these women a certain characteristic walk. Women whose feet were not bound, wanted to be able to walk the same way. So, they created special shoes to help them.

Role in Marriage

One of the main roles footbinding played was increasing the marriagablilty of the daughters in a household. Marriage was a way to assure continuity of the patrilineal line. When a family had a daughter, their concern was to raise her as cheaply as possible. This was due to the fact that girls left the family and could not help the family economically. This meant the main task for the family was to ensure that their daughters would marry into a good family. In order to make a daughter marriageable they had to be brought up in strict accordance of correct female behavior. The correct way for women behave was outlined in the Three Obediences and the Four Virtues.

Three Obediences:

Before a woman is married she must obey her father

When married, she must live for her husband

And as a widow she must serve her sons

The three obediences were in Precepts for Women in the 2nd Century A.D. by Nu Chieh.(Greenhalgh, 12)

Four Virtues:

Woman’s Behavior: chaste and yielding, calm and upright

Woman’s Speech: not talkative, yet agreeable

Woman’s Carriage and Appearance: restrained and exquisite

Woman’s Occupation: handiwork, embroidery. (Greenhalgh, 12)

Women had to follow the standard of how they were supposed to live because there was no socially acceptable alternative for getting married, other than becoming a concubine. The goal of parents was to rear daughter to make best marriage match possible. The best marriage was usually to someone of a higher social status. The advantage of marrying a daughter into a family of higher status was political. By marrying thier daughter to a higher social status,the family was either able to get someone from the family into a political office, or they would now have a member of the daughters family in a political office. By knowing someone in a political, members of the brides family would be able to get immunity from political exploitation. (Greenhalgh, 13)

There were also a few economic benefits of marrying a daughter to a family of higher status. The primary economic gaim was a gift of money the grooms family sent to the brides family. The brides famiily also could possibly get loans or have business deals with the grooms family. Even with the possible financial gains, the political gains were better for the family. (Greenhalgh, 13)

Along with the family benefits, there were benefits for the bride if she married a man in a higher social status. The higher she married, the less physical work she would have to do. (Greenhalgh, 13)

When a woman married, she moved into her husbands family "compound." There lived her and her husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and any brothers of her husband and their wives. In this living situation, the mother-in-law held all the domestic power. By a having their feet bound prevented women from becoming disruptive. Women were continuously under the watchful eye of the mother-in-law and were unable to wander and earn any money of their own. Women in this situation also had little say in the decisions that affected their lives because of the control her in-laws held. (Greenhalgh, 14)

At some point, the family compound would be split up into separate households. This was not a good thing for the mother-in-law because she lost the power she held over her daughter-in-laws. This change of living situations was beneficial to the daughter-in-law because she now had control over her own life. (Greenhalgh, 15)

Footbinding became a self-repetitive cycle. "The family system demanded footbound wives to do its domestic and reproductive tasks: and footbound wives, physically constrained from doing otherwise, reinforced the power structures which strengthened the system." (Greenhalgh, 15)

End of Footbinding

Footbinding wasn't always legal in China. The Qing Dynasty outlawed footbinding, but the law was mostly ignored and women continued to bind their daughter's feet. The Qing Dynasty was not run by Han Chinese, and therefore they did not practice the footbinding custom.

Reform for footbinding did not come from within China, it came from the intrusion of Western imperialism in the 19th century. Western missionaries and urban,upperclass Chinse began to put together natural-foot societies. These societies sent out pamphlets with propaganda such as:

"The present is no time of peace. 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..." (Greenhalgh, 15)

During this time of reform, there also was an increase in industrialization. Industrialization created jobs for women outside of the home. With new work outside of the family compound, women with bound feet not as able to get out. This led to women with unbound feet able to get of the house. The custom of binding feet slowed modernization because it kept such a large number of possible workers at home. (Greenhalgh, 15)

The increase of Westerners also influenced the downfall of footbinding. Footbinding was ridiculed by Westerners, and in order to prevent national humiliation, the custom of footbinding needed to be given up. New leaders in 1912 after overthrowing Manchu dynasty passed number of strict anti-footbinding decrees. (Greenhalgh, 16)

1929 survey:

2.3% girls born before 1900 had unbound feet

95.1% girls born after 1910 had unbound feet

This survey shows the dramatic decrease in custom of footbinding. Women who already had bound feet were unlikely to follow laws and unbind their feet. This was primarily because of the pain and slim chance foot would regain natural shape. (Greenhalgh, 16)

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Classroom Presentation

Media:Footbinding.pptx by Mallory Wilsted

Works Cited

Ebrey, Patrica Buckley. "The Cambridge Illustrated History of China". New York, Cambridge University Press, 2010, 2d ed.

Greenhalgh, Susan. “Bound Feet, Hobbled Lives: Women in Old China.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies. Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring, 1977), pp. 7- 21