Feet altered by footbinding were known as lotus feet and the shoes made for them were known as lotus shoes. In late imperial China, bound feet were considered a status symbol and a mark of feminine beauty. However, footbinding was a painful practice that limited the mobility of women and resulted in lifelong disabilities.
The prevalence and practice of footbinding varied over time and by region and social class. Footbinding eventually spread to lower social classes by the Qing dynasty β Manchu emperors attempted to ban the practice in the 17th century but failed. In the late 19th century, Christian missionaries and Chinese reformers challenged the practice but it was not until the early 20th century that the practice began to die out, following the efforts of anti-footbinding campaigns.
Additionally, upper-class and urban women dropped the practice of footbinding sooner than poorer rural women. There are a number of stories about the origin of footbinding before its establishment during the Song dynasty. In the story, Pan Yunu, renowned for having delicate feet, performed a dance barefoot on a floor decorated with the design of a golden lotus, after which the Emperor, expressing admiration, said that "lotus springs from her every step!
This story may have given rise to the terms 'golden lotus' or 'lotus feet' used to describe bound feet; there is no evidence, however, that Consort Pan ever bound her feet. The general view is that the practice is likely to have originated during the reign of the 10th-century Emperor Li Yu of the Southern Tang , just before the Song dynasty.
Some of the earliest possible references to footbinding appear around , when a couple of poems seemed to allude to the practice. I do not know what use this is. The earliest archeological evidence for foot binding dates to the tombs of Huang Sheng, who died in at the age of 17, and Madame Zhou, who died in Each woman's remains showed feet bound with gauze strips measuring 1.
