The Bizarre History Of Foot Binding
It was a painful female fashion trend that caused permanent mobility problems for many women
The horrific history of foot binding can be traced to a tenth-century court dancer named Yao Niang. When dancing, Yao stood on her toes which were tied in a six-foot golden lotus and beautified with precious stones and ribbons. She always bound her feet in the shape of a new moon while performing the “lotus dance”.
Yao’s grace inspired many upper-class women so much that they followed suit. Within a short time, many of the young girls and ladies in China started to bind their feet. It was an extremely painful procedure that required them to tighten their feet with cloth strips. Each foot was tied from front to back in an excruciating manner that left it growing into an exaggerated high curve.
With this method, the foot would only grow to become three or four inches in length. The deformed toes were called “golden lotus” or “lotus feet”.
The process of foot binding
The task of foot binding was usually done by the older women in the family or a…
