Foot binding

Foot binding
A Chinese woman showing her foot, image by Lai Afong, c. 1870s
Traditional Chinese	纏足
Simplified Chinese	缠足
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin chánzú Wade–Giles ch'an2-tsu2 IPA [ʈʂʰǎn.tsǔ]
Alternative Cantonese name
Traditional Chinese	紮腳
Simplified Chinese	扎脚
Transcriptions Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization jaat-geuk Jyutping zaat3-goek3 IPA [tsat̚˧.kœk̚˧] other Yue Taishanese zat1 giak1
Alternative Wu name
Traditional Chinese	繞小腳
Simplified Chinese	绕小脚
Transcriptions Wu Romanization 6gniau 5shiau-ciaq
Alternative Southern Min name
Traditional Chinese	縛跤
Simplified Chinese	缚跤
Transcriptions Southern Min Hokkien POJ pa̍k-kha
Alternative Northern Min name
Traditional Chinese	紮跤
Simplified Chinese	扎跤
Transcriptions Northern Min Jian'ou Romanized cuŏi-káu

Foot binding (simplified Chinese: 缠足; traditional Chinese: 纏足; pinyin: chánzú), or footbinding, was the Chinese custom of breaking and tightly binding the feet of young girls to change their shape and size. Feet altered by foot binding 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, foot binding was a painful practice that limited the mobility of women and resulted in lifelong disabilities.

The prevalence and practice of foot binding varied over time, by region, and by social class. The practice may have originated among court dancers during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in 10th-century China and gradually became popular among the elite during the Song dynasty, later spreading to lower social classes by the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). Manchu emperors attempted to ban the practice in the 17th century but failed. In some areas, foot binding raised marriage prospects. It has been estimated that by the 19th century 40–50% of all Chinese women may have had bound feet, rising to almost 100% among upper-class Han Chinese women. Frontier ethnic groups such as Turkestanis, Manchus, Mongols, and Tibetans generally did not practice footbinding. In some regions, Han Chinese influence spread the practice to non-Han women, such as the Hui people.

Chinese reformers as well as Christian missionaries challenged the practice in the late 19th century, and the practice began to die out in the early 20th century, following the efforts of anti-foot binding campaigns. Upper-class and urban women dropped the practice sooner than poorer rural women. By 2007, only a handful of elderly Chinese women whose feet had been bound were still alive.