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.

Photo of Chinese woman with bound feet

Bound feet of several wealthy Chinese women

Chinese woman with bound feet

Mother & daughter- compare the size of their feet

Size comparison: regular size woman's shoe (from WWI era), woman's bound feet & a teacup

This is what the feet looked like properly wrapped up and with the women wearing their special shoes.

These pictures show only the result of footbinding, not the terrible and excruciatingly painful process by which these result were obtained. 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, thus ensuring her future marriage prospects. Yes, it was almost always the mother who did this to her daughters. Now, take a look under the bindings.

Under the Bindings

Chinese woman from Shanghai 1900 shows her bound feet

top view of the feet of the woman from Shanghai unwrapped and shown next to the foot of a typical woman with unbound feet.

Now for a look at the bottom of her feet

close up of typical bound feet.

typical bound foot. The toes have been wrapped so completely under the foot that they are visible on the opposite side

Chinese woman with bound feet compared with another woman's unbound feet (she turned one foot so that the side view could be seen

Not just in China. This woman is from Toronto.

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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.

Example of shoes, for women whose feet were not bound, designed to help them walk like women with bound feet.

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 until Chairman Mao outlawed it in the mid twentieth century. As late as the 1950's there were still girls getting their feet bound. Now, most of these women have died and the custom is finally dying too.

Works Cited

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