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HOW ABOUT NOW?

CHINESE FOOT BINDING
 In the 10th   century, in China, legend says a prince began the practice of foot binding because he loved the small "Lily Feet" of his concubine. The tiny foot became the mark of a wealthy and well-born woman.
      For over 1000 years, rich women had their feet bound. The new Republic banned foot binding in 1912, and the custom finally died out in the 1930's. 

I bet Cinderella's tiny foot didn't look like this!

  The perfectly bound foot was only 3" long. Women who got their feet bound could not walk, run, or dance.  
  They just sat around and said, "Ouch!"


19th century photo of a San Francisco   
girl with bound feet.  
(Isaiah Taber)		 Foot binding began between the ages of four and seven.  A strip of bandage ten feet long and two inches wide was wrapped tightly around the foot.  The four small toes were broken and bent under the sole.  The arch of the foot was bowed to make the foot shorter.
The bandage was tightened each day and the foot was put into smaller and smaller shoes.  

In two years, the process was finished. By then, the foot was useless for walking very far.

Beverley Jackson let us use her pictures from the book she wrote about bound feet.
 A slipper for a bound foot.  Splendid Slippers, Beverley Jackson.
 
X-ray of the normal 
and the bound foot 		Bound feet had to be washed and cared for daily.  If toe nails grew into the instep, infection could set in.  If the bindings were too tight, gangrene and blood poisoning could occur.  The bound foot was painful and tender forever.  It often had an unpleasant smell.

That's really nice to know!

 
Dynasty Antique Shoes
These boots were not made for walking!
pictures from 

http://www.dynastyantiques.com

Photo taken around 1900

HOW DO YOU MEASURE UP?

Get a ruler or measuring tape and measure your foot!

How long is your foot?

How much longer is your foot than the perfectly bound foot? (We told you!)

 

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