Foot binding in China. History of a cruel tradition

Written by Rory Thornfield

For nearly a thousand years, Chinese girls went through the hell of foot deformation in the name of a beauty ideal called golden lotuses. This practice, beginning as early as age four, broke bones, caused paralysis, and often ended in death. The tradition of foot binding was a symbol of social status and feminine refinement, but its true price was unimaginably high.

Beginnings of a Cruel Fashion

The legend of this practice’s origin reaches back to the imperial court of the tenth century. A concubine named Yao Ning, desiring to win the favor of Emperor Li Houzhu, wrapped her feet in silk fabric. This was meant to make them look more delicate and dainty during a dance in the golden lotus, a symbolic ornament of the imperial garden.

The effect of enchantment was so great that other women at court quickly imitated this custom. In harems and among the highest social strata, this fashion spread like wildfire. What initially was one woman’s whim became a determinant of social position and beauty.

By the twelfth century, the practice had already firmly rooted itself in the culture of the upper classes. Aristocratic families treated foot binding as an essential element of preparing daughters for marriage. Small feet guaranteed a better match and higher social status for the entire family.

Over time, the custom also penetrated lower social strata. Particularly during the Qing dynasty, which ruled from 1644 to 1912, the practice became common in almost all social classes. Paradoxically, even poor families began deforming their daughters’ feet, despite the fact that it hindered physical labor.

Process of Torture from Childhood

The procedure began when a girl was between four and twelve years old. This is a crucial age when bones are still relatively soft and susceptible to shaping. Parents believed that starting the process later would make deformation more difficult and painful.

The first step was soaking the feet in special herbal infusions. This was meant to soften the skin and prepare the bones for violent shape change. Girls were also given a special diet that additionally weakened bone structure, making it more susceptible to breaking.

Then the feet were wrapped with tight bandages in a very specific manner. All toes except the big one were bent violently toward the heel. This position caused the metatarsal bones to break and gradual deformation of the entire foot structure. The pain was unbearable, and girls often screamed and begged for the procedure to stop.

The bandage was tightened progressively each week over subsequent years. The process led to open wounds that became gateways for infections. It is estimated that at least ten percent of girls died from complications. Infections, gangrene, and sepsis were common causes of death among young victims of this tradition.

Life with Bound Feet

Perfectly bound feet, called golden lotuses, could not exceed twelve centimeters in length. This forced complete remodeling of foot anatomy. Women with such feet were considered the pinnacle of beauty and refinement in the eyes of Chinese society of the time.

Feet had to remain wrapped in bandages throughout a woman’s entire life. Unwrapping them was impossible without risk of further health complications. Improperly performed procedures led to chronic pain, partial paralysis, or complete atrophy of leg muscles.

Small feet also had an erotic dimension in Chinese culture. They were considered extremely attractive and desired by men. Women with the smallest feet were most willingly chosen as wives by the wealthy or as mistresses by the powerful. This eroticization of deformity further perpetuated the practice in society.

Binding had an enormous impact on women’s position in society. Women lost mobility and became completely dependent on others. They could not move over longer distances, which confined them within homes. This physical helplessness translated into even greater subordination of women in patriarchal society.

Fight to End the Tradition

Opposition to foot binding appeared as early as the tenth century. Writers from the Song dynasty criticized this practice as cruel and inhumane. Their voices, however, were voices crying in the wilderness, as most of society was deeply convinced of the tradition’s rightness.

The Manchus, who established the Qing dynasty, also tried to combat this custom. They themselves did not practice foot binding and considered it barbaric. However, despite formal bans issued by successive emperors, the practice not only persisted but even spread.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Christian missionaries arriving in China joined the fight. Together with local feminists and reformers such as Sun Yat-sen, they launched a campaign against binding. Their arguments were based on both humanitarian and health premises.

An official ban was introduced in 1904, but the true end of the tradition came only after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Communist authorities, under threat of death, ordered the liberation of all women’s feet. Surprisingly, in some women the feet grew by several centimeters after bandage removal, showing how great the deformation had been.

Today in China the practice has completely disappeared. Moreover, some contemporary Chinese women deliberately wear large shoes or walk with crushed heels. This is a symbolic gesture of rejecting feudal customs and a manifestation of freedom that their grandmothers and great-grandmothers could only dream about.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Rory Thornfield

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Rory's grandfather left behind a wartime diary filled with accounts of a minor Burma skirmish that history books never mentioned. Reading it, Rory realized: behind every famous battle are dozens of forgotten struggles, each with its own human drama.

His preferred topics: The overlooked corners of military history – secondary campaigns, shadow battalions, local conflicts that never made headlines. From medieval sieges to twentieth-century expeditions, he focuses on the soldiers, not the generals. The people who faced impossible choices and carried those experiences forever.

Rory strips away the romanticism without losing respect for those who served. He combines tactical analysis with personal stories, examining human endurance and moral complexity rather than celebrating warfare. His writing is balanced, thoughtful, and deeply researched.

Outside work, Rory visits forgotten battlefields (now quiet farmland), photographs war memorials nobody tends anymore, and interviews veterans' families.