Foot binding
When the Manchuria created the Qing dynasty, the Manchurian emperors wrote many laws banning foot binding. However, the laws did not work very well. In 1874, the first anti-footbinding committee (meeting of people) was held in Shanghai by a British priest. After the collapse of the Qing dynasty, the republican government kept trying to stop foot binding. They gave fines (orders to pay money) to women who still had their feet bound after 1915. During the early 20th century, western fashion was affecting China more and more. The People's Republic of China eventually outlawed foot binding, although this was not very successful in actually ending the practice. According to Xinhua News Agency, the last factory to make shoes for bound-feet women stopped making those shoes in 1998, in Harbin, China.