The Lotus Foot Tradition of China

Foot binding was a Chinese ceremony where young girls underwent feet breakage and deformation to structure their feet into a lotus shape, as a rite of passage into marriage. The Lotus Foot was prevalent in China for almost a millennium, during which time it became synonymous with beauty.

The practice originated during Li Yu’s reign in the 10th Century. Yao Niang, his concubine, bound her feet into a crescent moon shape and performed a dance for the emperor. Her dance was fabled to be so elegant, that upper-class women across the country quickly followed suit, with the practice spreading and becoming more extreme as it became considered a standard of beauty.

From the young age of 5, girls were forced into the practice. At this age, the girls’ feet hadn’t yet developed, thus those of her bones that were broken would regrow in that malformed way for life.

A binder would soak her feet in a mixture of herbs and animal blood - both a ritualistic and practical measure - which would soften the foot, easing the binding process. Her toenails were trimmed as far back as possible to prevent her nails becoming in-grown. Her toes would be folded under the foot and pushed down upon with great pressure, forcefully breaking the foot bones. The toes were then bound using cloth, which were then bound to her heel, creating a lotus-like arch between her toes and heel.

Chinese people wanted to simulate the aesthetic of the lotus, a symbol of chastity and fertility. She would have crafted intricate Lotus Shoes for her tiny feet, and the decorative aesthetic and size of her shoe determined her auspiciousness. The ‘Golden Lotus’ was the ideal foot length, equating to three inches, or eight centimetres. Having small, lotus feet was a prerequisite to marriage, and the defencelessness of a bound woman with limited mobility was highly fetishised. Thus, even women who laboured in the fields were forced to participate in the practice, stimulating a shuffling gait by wearing uncomfortable ‘flower bowl shoes’. Refusal resulted in being shunned, or even ostracism

The feet were bound under wrappings and lotus shoes at all times around men, with some regarded as sacred, not being revealed until marriage and sprayed with perfume to mask the scent of necrotic flesh. When her feet were unbound every day, or every 2-3 days for peasant women, they were soaked in a concoction which caused any dead flesh to fall off.

Binding the feet provoked major health problems, such as infection and gangrene due to in-grown toenails piercing through the skin. The tight bondage also cut off blood circulation to the feet, inhibiting any oxygen. If the infection reached the bone, deteriorating it, her toes were at risk of dropping off. However, this was regarded as an advantage since she could bind her feet even tighter! After a few weeks into the initial binding, the girls’ feet would become numb, but in her teenage years as the broken bones healed, they had to be broken all over again.

The cessation of foot binding occurred during the 20th century, with Western countries abhorring this cultural practice, rapidly morphing what was defined as acceptable within society. This resulted in husbands abandoning their wives, for the sole thing that earned them their marriage in the first place. Many tried to restore their feet, but the bones had already grown in the wrong directions so it caused them the same amount of pain that they went through already.

Some women alive today still have their feet bound; they are the living tales of the mutilating practice, but carry on the legacy of China’s Lotus Foot.