page_title: Foot binding
section_title: Later eras
hierarchical_section_title: Foot binding / History / Later eras
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Chaussure pour pieds bandés, Chine, 18ème siècle. Musées du château des Rohan, Musée Louise Weiss, Saverne. English: Chinese shoe for bound foot, 18th century. Musées du château des Rohan, Musée Louise Weiss, Saverne, France.
context_page_description: Foot binding was the Chinese custom of applying tight wrappings to the feet of young girls to modify their shape and size. The practice possibly originated among upper class court dancers during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in 10th-century China, then gradually became popular among the elite during the Song dynasty. Foot binding eventually spread to most social classes by the Qing dynasty and the practice finally came to an end in the early 20th century. Bound feet were at one time considered a status symbol as well as a mark of beauty. Yet foot binding was a painful practice and significantly limited the mobility of women, resulting in lifelong disabilities for most of its subjects. Feet altered by binding were called lotus feet.
  Foot binding was practiced in different forms, and the more severe form of binding may have been developed in the 16th century. It has been estimated that by the 19th century, 40–50% of all Chinese women may have had bound feet, and up to almost 100% among upper-class Chinese women. The prevalence and practice of foot binding however varied in different parts of the country.
context_section_description: At the end of the Song dynasty, men would drink from a special shoe whose heel contained a small cup. During the Yuan dynasty, some would also drink directly from the shoe itself. This practice was called "toast to the golden lotus" and lasted until the late Qing dynasty.
  The first European to mention footbinding was the Italian missionary Odoric of Pordenone in the 14th century during the Yuan dynasty. However, no other foreign visitors to Yuan China mentioned the practice, including Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo (who nevertheless noted the dainty walk of Chinese women who took very small steps), perhaps an indication that it was not a widespread or extreme practice at that time.  The practice however was encouraged by the Mongol rulers on their Chinese subjects. The practice became increasingly common among the gentry families, later spreading to the general population, as commoners and theatre actors alike adopted footbinding. By the Ming period, the practice was no longer the preserve of the gentry, but it was considered a status symbol.  As foot binding restricted female movement, one side effect of its rising popularity was the corresponding decline of the art of dance in China in women, and it became increasingly rare to hear about beauties and courtesans who were also great dancers after the Song era.
  The Manchus issued a number of edicts to ban the practice, first in 1636 when the Manchu leader Hong Taiji declared the founding of the new Qing dynasty, then in 1638, and another in 1664 by the Kangxi Emperor. However, few Han Chinese complied with the edicts and Kangxi eventually abandoned the effort in 1668. By the 19th century, it was estimated that 40–50% of Chinese women had bound feet, and among upper class Han Chinese women, the figure was almost 100%. Bound feet became a mark of beauty and were also a prerequisite for finding a husband. They also became an avenue for poorer women to marry into money in some areas; for example, in late 19th century Guangdong, it was customary to bind the feet of the eldest daughter of a lower-class family who was intended to be brought up as a lady. Her younger sisters would grow up to be bond-servants or domestic slaves and be able to work in the fields, but the eldest daughter would be assumed to never have the need to work. Women, their families and their husbands took great pride in tiny feet, with the ideal length, called the "Golden Lotus", being about three Chinese inches long (around 4 inches or 10 centimetres in Western measurement). This pride was reflected in the elegantly embroidered silk slippers and wrappings girls and women wore to cover their feet.
  Some women with bound feet might not have been able to walk without the support of their shoes and thus would have been severely limited in their mobility. However, many women with bound feet were still able to walk and work in the fields, albeit with greater limitations than their non-bound counterparts.  In the 19th and early 20th century, dancers with bound feet were popular, as were circus performers who stood on prancing or running horses. Women with bound feet in one village in Yunnan Province even formed a regional dance troupe to perform for tourists in the late 20th century, though age has since forced the group to retire. In other areas, women in their 70s and 80s could be found providing limited assistance to the workers in the rice fields well into the 21st century.
caption: A lotus shoe for bound feet, Louise Weiss collection, Saverne. The ideal length for a bound foot was 3 Chinese inches (寸), around 11 centimetres (4 in) in Western measurement.
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