Chinese custom of applying tight binding to the feet of young girls to modify the shape and size of their feet as a status symbol and mark of beauty, practised from 10th to early 20th centuries

concept

Foot of a Chinese woman, showing the effect of foot-binding. Photograph by (?) E.P. Minett, 192-.

Feet of a Chinese woman, showing the effect of foot-binding. Photograph, 19--.

Amoy (Xiamen), Fukien province, China: bound and unbound feet of two Amoy women. Photograph by John Thomson, 1869.

A deformed foot: X-ray. Photograph.

Bound feet of a Chinese lady compared with the unbound feet of a working Chinese woman. Photograph by Underwood & Underwood.

A pair of Chinese shoes for bound 'lily' feet

Locating the 'Four Flower Points' for women with bound feet

A Chinese lady in a red dress resting on a couch before an open window; left, a walled garden. Gouache.

M0017019: Four pairs of shoes for feet that have undergone foot binding

Every step a lotus : shoes for bound feet / Dorothy Ko.

Qian zai jin lian feng hua : chan zu wen wu zhan = A thousand years of bound feet / [Ke jisheng zhu].

M0007965: A bound foot demonstrating the Chinese custom of foot binding

[Chinese footbinding] / J.C. Dagnall.

Galleries and Reading Room

Library

Shop

Café

We're experiencing some technical problems in the library today. 

If you’re visiting us, you won’t be able to print or use our PCs or laptops. If you want to sign-up for a free library membership, we’ll give you a temporary card for today and complete your membership next time you visit.

You can access items from the collection as usual and our team is on hand to help. Thank you for your patience while we resolve these issues. 

We're running paid user research studies to improve Wellcome Collection online

Footbinding

Images from the collections

Images referencing Footbinding

Works from the collections

M0017019: Four pairs of shoes for feet that have undergone foot binding

Every step a lotus : shoes for bound feet / Dorothy Ko.

Qian zai jin lian feng hua : chan zu wen wu zhan = A thousand years of bound feet / [Ke jisheng zhu].

M0007965: A bound foot demonstrating the Chinese custom of foot binding

[Chinese footbinding] / J.C. Dagnall.

Footbinding

Images from the collections

Images referencing Footbinding

Works from the collections

M0017019: Four pairs of shoes for feet that have undergone foot binding

Every step a lotus : shoes for bound feet / Dorothy Ko.

Qian zai jin lian feng hua : chan zu wen wu zhan = A thousand years of bound feet / [Ke jisheng zhu].

M0007965: A bound foot demonstrating the Chinese custom of foot binding

[Chinese footbinding] / J.C. Dagnall.

Related topics