Knowra Foot binding Foot binding Foot binding was the practice of tightly wrapping girls’ feet in China to restrict their growth, producing a small arched shape and lasting physical impairment.
Lotus feet : Feet altered by binding into a small, sharply arched form. The desired shape that years of wrapping and pressure sought to produce.
Song dynasty : A Chinese dynasty that ruled from 960 to 1279. The earliest well-supported accounts place foot binding in the late Song period.
Kang Youwei : A late Qing reformer who advocated political and social transformation in China. He founded an anti-foot-binding society in 1883.
Anti-foot-binding movement : Campaigns in China to end foot binding through education, organization, and public pressure. Its associations and reformers challenged the practice across regions and social classes.
Corset : A close-fitting garment worn to shape or support the torso. Both practices shaped bodies, but binding permanently altered developing feet rather than using a removable garment.
Footwear : Items worn on the feet for protection, support, or social display. Small embroidered shoes displayed bound feet and accommodated their altered shape.
Li Yu : A Southern Tang ruler, poet, and patron of the arts who lived in the tenth century. A later origin story links bound feet to his court, though evidence is uncertain.
John Macgowan : A British missionary who worked in China and campaigned against foot binding. He helped establish an early anti-foot-binding organization in Xiamen in 1874.
Natural Foot Society : A Chinese organization founded in 1895 to oppose foot binding and promote natural feet. It organized pledges and advocacy against binding in the late Qing period.
Neck ring : A rigid ornament worn around the neck, sometimes added in successive coils. It is often compared with foot binding, though its bodily effects and social meanings differ.
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