FHMM1012 CRITITICAL THINKING READING TEXT 2 Chinese Culture: Foot Binding The practice of foot binding began in the Sung Dynasty, sometime between 960-976 BC. It is reported that a prince had a concubine who was required to dance with her feet bound. The prince forced his concubine to dance with bound feet because he had a fetish with tiny feet. This caused traditional family values to dictate that the feet of young girls should be bound to keep them small. The term "Lily feet" was used to describe the tiny feet because they were thought to be very beautiful and a symbol of gentility and high-class. The actual foot binding process began when a girl was between the ages of three and eleven years old. First the inner foot of the child was washed in hot water and then massaged. Then all of the toes, except the first toe, were broken, turned under, pressed to the bottom of the foot, and bound tightly with cloth strips which kept the feet from growing larger than ten centimeters or three point nine inches. Next, the arches were broken as the foot was pulled straight with the leg. The cloth bandages would be tightly wound around the foot from the toes to the ankle to hold the toes in place. After about two or three years, the child's feet actually shrank to the point that they could fit into shoes that were only three inches long. These tiny shoes, which were called "lotus shoes", were made of silk and were decorated with beautiful embroidery. The results of the foot binding were highly deformed feet that were extremely painful to walk on. Many times, the toes actually fell off because the bandages were wrapped so tight that blood could no longer reach them. The purpose of foot binding was to identify women of high-class, and to keep a woman from "wandering". The bound feet kept control over the women because the pain was so intense that they could not even walk short distances without assistance. In the upper class of China, a good marriage would be impossible to...
