From what dynasty did foot-binding among Chinese women begin?

Footbinding began in the late Northern Song Dynasty and emerged in the Southern Song Dynasty.

According to Gao Hongxing's "History of Footbinding", there are many historical materials proving that footbinding originated in the Northern Song Dynasty and the custom of footbinding emerged in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Footbinding began in the Five Dynasties said, from the South Tang Dynasty, Li Houzhu's dancer Jiao Siu Niang, beautiful and versatile, able to sing and dance, Li Houzhu made a six-foot-high gold lotus, decorated with jewels and silk tassels, Jiao Siu Niang wrapped the feet in silk, so that the feet of the small flexion for the crescent, and then put on the socks in the Lotus Dance, which makes the dance even more beautiful.

The foot binding in the Yuan Dynasty continued to develop in the direction of small. In the Ming Dynasty, the wind of foot-binding entered a period of prosperity, the emergence of the "three-inch golden lotus" said that the foot should not only be as small as three inches, but also bowed, but before the Qing Dynasty's unearthed female corpses have not yet been found to have a foot-binding, it can be seen that foot-binding at that time was also not very common. Qing Dynasty foot-binding wind spread to all social classes of women, rich or poor, all have foot-binding, but not a few of those who are not foot-binding.

Expanded Information

Footbinding is a kind of behavior that destroys the normal development of limbs. Women with footbinding have to start wrapping their feet from a young age, slowly bending the bones of the feet and making them deformed. A pair of small feet after foot-binding not only has all kinds of inconvenience in practical life, but also in the whole process of foot-binding, women have to bear great pain of disability. This kind of thing, which has no practical effect and causes extreme pain to the bearer, is widely popular and has become a social custom for nearly a thousand years.

The influence of the ruler's will on the people of the world. The origin of foot-binding is related to the rulers. Footbinding began in the mid to late Northern Song Dynasty and flourished in the Southern Song Dynasty. The royal family of the Song Dynasty and the upper class of the Song Dynasty were the first to start foot-binding. Helin Yulu" records: Jianyan four years "Zoufu Di Ji to, to the foot of the big doubt. Knit knit said: the Jin people driven, tricked line ten thousand miles, how to return to the old state. On the compassionate".

"History of Song Dynasty - five lines of Zhi" recorded: "Li Zong dynasty, the Palace people bundle feet fiber straight". This is an example of the royal family of the Song Dynasty, women in the palace foot binding. Su Shi "Bodhisattva barbarians Wing foot" said women's small feet for the "palace like", Cao Yuan favor in a word called small feet for the "official-like child", which also shows that foot binding from the Song dynasty bureaucrats and aristocrats, such as the Song dynasty, the upper class. The fact that they were invariably associated with the rulers also explains why.

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Baidu Encyclopedia: Footbinding