Ancient Chinese Foot Binding

Foot binding first became popular during the Song Dynasty in China. It is thought to have originated Emperor Li Yu asked his concubine, Yao Niang to bind her feet and perform a ballet dance for him. The bound feet were to represent the lotus flower. Niang was so graceful on her feet during this dance that people wished to imitate the bound feet in order to be as graceful and as beautiful. This was practiced mostly in Northern China.

After the initial appearance, it became common among the upper class women to bind their feet to make them as small as possible. The eldest daughter of the lower class would have her feet bound also in an attempt to reach into a higher class. It was thought that the smallest feet were the most beautiful and marriage proposals would only come to those with the smallest feet. …show more content…
It required the toes to be bent under to the sole of the foot and broken and then bound into place. Then the foot was lined up with the leg so it was straight with the leg and then the arch of the foot was broken. The foot would be bound for years and would slowly be bound tighter and tighter. The ultimate goal was to have a 3 in foot. When the foot was this small then they could be put in small decorative shoes. The feet were bound for days at a time and were hidden inside of these small shoes.

Unsurprisingly, girls who went through this could not walk around very easily and led to many other health problems involving posture and joints. This was done merely for aesthetics. It was not successfully banned until the 20th century, although leaders tried to ban it centuries before.

Women in China during this time did not have a lot of influence and their function was limited to decoration and reproduction. The most notable person that had bound feet was Yao Niang, who danced for the