When I first traveled to China in the mid-1980s, I would sometimes see women hobbling down the street with tiny little feet because their feet had been bound. These little old ladies were almost completely crippled and could hardly walk.

Footbinding was the Chinese practice of breaking young girls’ feet and tightly wrapping them so their feet would not grow large. Many women who had their feet bound were disabled their entire lives. Footbinding was practiced throughout China for about 1,000 years. Chinese rulers tried to stop the practice throughout China’s history, but it was not successfully stopped until the 20th Century.

Table of Contents

• Footbinding – The Painful Way To Get Small Feet
  • History of Footbinding
• Footbinding Process and Facts
• Related Questions
  • Why you should bring binoculars on your trip to Mongolia?
  • Is the Vietnamese Water Puppet Show Worth Seeing?

Footbinding – The Painful Way To Get Small Feet

Footbinding was the Chinese custom of breaking a Chinese girl’s feet and then tightly binding her feet to change her feet’ shape and size. When it was practiced, the small tiny feet were considered a status symbol and a mark of beauty.

In some cases, footbinding showed the status of the family. These girls and women often had to be carried around as they could not walk. To afford that, the families would need some substance and money.

The tiny feet were considered a mark of beauty. The tiny footbound feet were called “lotus feet,” and the tiny shoes made for the feet were called “lotus shoes.” Many believe that footbinding helped Chinese girls to have a higher prospect of marriage.

The process of foot binding was excruciatingly painful. It often led to extreme discomfort while walking as the women could never walk properly. Many of the women who had their feet bound had lifelong disabilities. Many had to be carried around their entire life.

History of Footbinding

Many may ask why in the world would any Chinese parent want to put their daughters through the painful process of footbinding. Why would they want their daughters to be purposely disabled for the rest of their lives?

Like most things in Asia, it is not a very simple question. Footbinding was deeply entrenched in Chinese culture for over a thousand years. Throughout China’s history, rulers tried to ban foot binding but failed to do so.

In 1660, the Emperor of China attempted to ban all footbinding but could not do so. In the late 19th century, Chinese leaders tried to change footbinding but failed. It was not until the 20th century that the practice of footbinding began to dwindle. Part of the reason many of the anti-footbinding campaigns failed was that it was too entrenched in the Chinese culture.

The practice of footbinding goes as far back as 1100 A.D. when some Chinese poems allude to the practice of footbinding. But even in the early times, Chinese scholars criticized the approach. In the 13th Century, the scholar Che Ruo Shui wrote one of the first known criticism of foot binding when they wrote:

Despite the criticism, footbinding remained popular in many parts of China for hundreds of years. Some Chinese leaders tried to ban it, and others encouraged it, but it remained a practice in China for about 1,000 years.

Some Chinese leaders saw footbinding as a practice they should encourage; other, more reform-minded leaders saw footbinding as a practice that needed to be eliminated. With many things in China, it is hard to eliminate something entrenched in the Chinese culture, such as footbinding; this is why it took such a long time for footbinding to be wholly eradicated from Chinese culture.

A 1928 survey in one northern province in China showed that of girls born before 1910 only 2.3% did not have bound feet, but for girls born after 1910, about 95% did not have found feet. So, we can say that footbinding in China started to change after 1910.

Footbinding Process and Facts

There is no doubt that footbinding was a painful, terrible practice. Here are a few facts about the Chinese footbinding practice:

• The foot binding process started before the foot’s arch had a chance to develop fully, usually between ages 4 and 9.
• The footbinding was usually done in the winter due to the cold weather; the feet were more likely to be numb, and the pain of binding the feet would not be so extreme.
• The feet were soaked in a warm mixture of herbs and animal blood to soften up the feet and help with the binding.
• The girl’s toenails would be cut back as far as possible to prevent the in-growth of the toenails or any infections.
• The toes would be pressed tightly against the soles of the feet. The toes were purposely broken to be pressed against the sole.
• The feet of girls would be unbound frequently to wash and to take care of their feet. But each time, they rebounded and wrapped even tighter.
• Most bound feet became numb, so the bound women eventually had no feeling in their feet.
• Attempting to reverse the bound feet was excruciating. To reverse the procedure, they must go through all the pain again.
• The most common issues with bound feet were infections.
• One common infection was with the toenails, so in some cases, they would take off the toenails.
• The binding cut off all circulation to the feet area, hurting overall health and circulation.
• Many times the bones would remain broken for years. So the girls would need to try to walk around on these tiny broken feet for years.
• Sometimes the bones in the feet would be purposely rebroken a few times to try to change the foot’s shape and make the foot even smaller.
• In some cases, paralysis and muscular atrophy arose due to foot binding.

Even though it has been a long time since China has practice foot binding, it is essential to understand this part of China’s history. One of the reasons it is important is that foot binding has been a part of Chinese culture and society for almost 1000 years.

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