😳 The History Of Footbinding 😳
😳 Foot-binding is said to have been inspired by a tenth-century court dancer named Yao Niang.
Yao Niang had bound her feet into the shape of a new moon.
Yao Niang entranced the Emperor Li Yu, by dancing on her toes inside a six-foot golden lotus, festooned with ribbons and precious stones.
😳 Some early evidence for foot-binding comes from the tomb of Lady Huang Sheng, the wife of an imperial clansman.
Lady Huang Sheng died in 1243.
When archaeologists opened her tomb, they discovered tiny, misshapen feet that had been wrapped in gauze and placed inside specially shaped “lotus shoes.”
😳 From the start, foot-binding was imbued with erotic overtones.
Gradually, court ladies with money and time, took up foot-binding ~ making it a status symbol among the elite.
In addition to altering the shape of the foot, the practice of foot-binding also produced a particular sort of posture, that relied on the thigh and buttock muscles for support.
😳 A small foot in China, is basically no different from the desire for a tiny waist in Victorian England.
For families with marriageable daughters, foot size translated into its own form of currency.
The most desirable bride possessed a three-inch foot, known as a 'golden lotus.'
It was still respectable to have four-inch feet, called a 'silver lotus'.
Feet that were five inches or longer, were dismissed as iron lotuses.
The marriage prospects for a girl with iron lotus feet, were very dim indeed.....
😳 Foot-binding was viewed as a rite of passage for young girls, and was believed to be preparation for puberty, menstruation, and childbirth.
Foot-binding also held the popular belief that it increased fertility, because the blood would flow up to the legs, hips, and reproduction areas.
😳 The process of foot-binding had to begin in childhood.
5 or 6 years of age was preferable, as the bones in the feet were still soft and malleable.
Mothers, grandmothers, or older female relatives would carry out the process from start to finish.
😳 First, the feet were washed in hot water, and the toenails clipped short.
The feet were then massaged and oiled before all the toes, except the big toes, were broken and bound flat against the sole, making a triangle shape.
Next, the arch was strained, as the foot was bent double.
Finally, the feet were bound in place using a silk strip measuring ten feet long and two inches wide.
These wrappings were briefly removed every two days to prevent blood and pus from infecting the foot.
😳 Sometimes excess flesh was cut away or encouraged to rot.
The girls would walk long distances, in order to hasten the breaking of their arches.
Over time the wrappings became tighter and the shoes smaller, as the heel and sole were pushed together.
After two years the process was complete, creating a deep crease, that could hold a coin in place.
Once a foot had been crushed and bound, the shape could not be reversed without a woman undergoing the same pain all over again.
😳 Though utterly rejected in China now ~ the last shoe factory making lotus shoes closed in 1999 ~ the practice of foot-binding survived for a thousand years.
This was in part of the women’s emotional investment in the practice, and the symbolism of beauty and fertility.
Despite the pain, millions of Chinese women stood firm in their devotion to the tradition of foot-binding.
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