they stopped foot binding in china in the early 20th century.
they stopped foot binding in china in the early 20th century.
when did they stop foot binding in china?
the early 20th century
foot binding was the custom of applying tight binding to the feet of young girls to modify the shape and size of their feet. the practice possibly originated among upper class court dancers during the five dynasties and ten kingdoms period in 10th century china, then gradually became popular among the elite during the song dynasty. foot binding eventually spread to most social classes by the qing dynasty and the practice finally came to an end in the early 20th century. bound feet were at one time considered a status symbol as well as a mark of beauty. yet, foot binding was a painful practice and significantly limited the mobility of women, resulting in lifelong disabilities for most of its subjects. feet altered by binding were called lotus feet.
foot binding
the hakka people however were unusual among han chinese in not practicing foot binding at all. most non-han chinese people, such as the manchus, mongols and tibetans, did not bind their feet; however, some non-han ethnic groups did. foot binding was practised by the hui muslims in gansu province, the dungan muslims, descendants of hui from northwestern china who fled to central asia, were also seen practicing foot binding up to 1948. in southern china, in guangzhou, 19th century scottish scholar james legge noted a mosque that had a placard denouncing foot binding, saying islam did not allow it since it constituted violating the creation of god.
foot binding