The Chinese Art of Foot Binding

This is a practice that was practiced on young Chinese women. Foot binding was practiced for about 1000 years. Foot binding started in the 10^th century and it continued to be practiced into the 20^th century until it was banned in 1911 after the fall of the Qing Dynasty. This happened when the New Republic of China took over. They realized that the art of foot binding seemed to appear to be barbaric and was a form of abuse.

Young girls usually started the foot binding process when they were around the age of 5 years old. When a person or child started the foot binding process four of the toes on each foot would usually break in the first year leaving only the big toe unbroken. Foot binding was a practice that was performed because it was suppose to be aesthetically pleasing but this procedure would result with horrible discomfort and intense deformity of the feet. This procedure resulted in leaving the women with the unstable ability to walk which is called the Lotus Gait.

When this practice first started it was mainly practiced within the wealthiest people of China. It only became a common practice among the social classes during the later years of the Qing Dynasty.

The Chinese bound their feet to achieve the look of small feet. Most bound their feet which would become highly deformed and leaving the feet between 4 to 6 inches in size. The arch of the foot had to be very predominating to be the perfect 'Lotus Foot'. The ideal size of the foot was only 3 inches which was know as the 'Gold Lotus'. If the foot was 4 inches in size is was known as the 'Silver Lotus'. Sometimes the feet that were bound to tight for to long would create a more deformed foot which was known as 'Lotus Hooks'.

These women who practiced the art of foot binding couldn't walk to easy and were prone to fractures easily in the feet. They were also prone to infection, paralysis and even muscle atrophy which in most cases would leave the feet unable to function properly.