This is not a child’s feet. These are the legs of adult women who when they were small are crushed, folded & stretched until they remain small. Not seldom they became infected and led to and rotting flesh. But centuries ago, “lotus feet” were considered beautiful in China.

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Feudal Tradition

The tradition of bracing the feet to form what is called the Lotus Feet has been around since the Sui Dynasty (581-618), but became popular in the Tang dynasty (618-907) and became even more popular in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). At that time, women with tiny feet were seen as beautiful.

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Legends and stories

There many stories about the origin of the Lotus Feet. One of the most famous is about a dancer named Yao Ning, who tied her legs to the shape of a crescent moon while dancing. That fascinated Emperor Li Yu and considered the feet to be perfect. Foot binding first became popular in the imperial palace and then spread to the peasant class and became a status symbol for centuries.

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Painful but beautiful?

Whether a woman bounded her feet or not and how she bounded her feet had an effect on the “matchmaking” process . In the ancient times, every social class considered big feet to be a shame. Conversely, small feet are touted as something to be proud of.

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Castes of Lotus Feet

According to theworldofchinese.com if the footprint is more than 10 cm called the Iron Lotus. If it is between 7.6-10 cm it is called the Silver Lotus. The highest status: the owner of the Golden Lotus, whose feet are less than 7.6 cm. People from the highest caste does not need to work hard.