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footbinding was a political institution which reflected
and perpetuated the sociological and psychological inferiority of women; footbinding cemented women to a certain sphere, with a certain function —women were
sexual objects and breeders. Footbinding was mass
attitude, mass culture —it was the key reality in a way
of life lived by real women— 10 centuries times that
many millions o f them.
It is generally thought that footbinding originated as
an innovation among the dancers of the Imperial
harem. Sometime between the 9th and 11th centuries,
Emperor Li Yu ordered a favorite ballerina to achieve
the “pointed look. ” The fairy tale reads like this:
Li Yu had a favored palace concubine named
Lovely Maiden who was a slender-waisted beauty and
a gifted dancer. He had a six-foot high lotus constructed for her out o f gold; it was decorated lavishly with pearls and had a carmine lotus carpet in the
center. Lovely Maiden was ordered to bind her feet
with white silk cloth to make the tips look like the
points o f a moon sickle. She then danced in the center
of the lotus, whirling about like a rising cloud. 1
From this original event, the bound foot received the
euphemism “Golden Lotus, ” though it is clear that
Lovely Maiden’s feet were bound loosely— she could still
dance.
A later essayist, a true foot gourmand, described 58
varieties of the human lotus, each one graded on a 9-
point scale. For example:
T ype: Lotus petal, New moon, Harmonious bow,
Bamboo shoot, Water chestnut
Specifications: plumpness, softness, fineness
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Rank:
Divine Quality (A-1), perfectly plump, soft and fine
Wondrous Quality (A-2), weak and slender
Immortal Quality (A-3), straight-boned, independent
Precious Article (B-1), peacocklike, too wide, dis-
proportioned
Pure Article (B-2), gooselike, too long and thin
Seductive Article (B-3), fleshy, short, wide, round
(the disadvantage of this foot was that its owner
could withstand a blowing wind)
Excessive Article (C-1), narrow but insufficiently
pointed
Ordinary Article (C-2), plump and common
False Article (C-3), monkeylike large heel (could
climb)
T he distinctions only emphasize that footbinding
was a rather hazardous operation. T o break the bones
involved or to modify the pressure o f the bindings irregularly had embarrassing consequences — no girl could bear the ridicule involved in being called a “largefooted Demon” and the shame o f being unable to marry.
Even the possessor o f an A - 1 Golden Lotus could
not rest on her laurels —she had to observe scrupulously
the taboo-ridden etiquette o f bound femininity: (1) do
not walk with toes pointed upwards; (2) do not stand
with heels seemingly suspended in midair; (3) do not
move skirt when sitting; (4) do not move feet when
lying down. T h e same essayist concludes his treatise
with this most sensible advice (directed to the gentlemen o f course):
Do not remove the bindings to look at her bare feet,
but be satisfied with its external appearance. Enjoy the
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outward impression, for if you remove the shoes and
bindings the aesthetic feeling will be destroyed forever. 2
Indeed. The real feet looked like this:
(feet: 3 to 4 inches in length)
The physical process which created this foot is
described by Howard S. Levy in Chinese Footbinding:
The History of a Curious Erotic Custom:
The success or failure of footbinding depended on
skillful application of a bandage around each foot. The
bandage, about two inches wide and ten feet long, was
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wrapped in the following way. One end was placed on
the inside of the instep, and from there it was carried
over the small toes so as to force the toes in and towards the sole. The large toe was left unbound. The bandage was then wrapped around the heel so forcefully that heel and toes were drawn closer together.
The process was then repeated from the beginning
until the entire bandage had been applied. The foot of
the young child was subjected to a coercive and unremitting pressure, for the object was not merely to confine the foot but to make the toes bend under and
into the sole and bring the heel and sole as close together as physically possible. 3
A C h ris tia n m is s io n a ry o b s e rve d :
The flesh often became putrescent during the binding
and portions sloughed off from the sole; sometimes
one or more toes dropped off. 4
A n e ld e rly C h in e s e w o m a n , as late as 1934, re m e m b e re d v iv id ly h e r c h ild h o o d e x p e rie n c e : Born into an old-fashioned family at P’ing-hsi, I was
inflicted with the pain of footbinding when I was seven
years old. I was an active child who liked to jump about,
but from then on my free and optimistic nature vanished. Elder Sister endured the process from six to eight years of age [this means that it took Elder Sister two years to attain the 3-inch foot]. It was in the first lunar month of my seventh year that my ears were
pierced and fitted with gold earrings. I was told that a
girl had to suffer twice, through ear piercing and footbinding. Binding started in the second lunar month; mother consulted references in order to select an
auspicious day for it. I wept and hid in a neighbor’s
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home, but Mother found me, scolded me, and dragged
me home. She shut the bedroom door, boiled water,
and from a box withdrew binding, shoes, knife, needle,
and thread. I begged for a one-day postponement, but
Mother refused: “Today is a lucky day, ” she said. “ If
bound today, your feet will never hurt; if bound tomorrow they will. ” She washed and placed alum on my feet and cut the toenails. She then bent my toes toward
the plantar with a binding cloth ten feet long and two
inches wide, doing the right foot first and then the
left. She finished binding and ordered me to walk,
but when I did the pain proved unbearable.
That night, Mother wouldn’t let me remove the
shoes. My feet felt on fire and I couldn’t sleep; Mother
struck me for crying. On the following days, I tried
to hide but was forced to walk on my feet. Mother hit
me on my hands and feet for resisting. Beatings and
curses were my lot for covertly loosening the wrappings. The feet were washed and rebound after three or four days, with alum added. After several months,