When did ancient women begin foot binding? What impact did it have on China?

Footbinding was first practiced during the reign of Li Yu of the Southern Tang Dynasty in 969-975 A.D. One of Empress Li's nuns had the idea of wrapping her feet into a crescent shape with silk and danced on a golden lotus flower to please the Emperor of the People's Republic of China.

Then this custom gradually spread to the people's homes, and women were known to wrap their feet for beauty. The feudal literati and scholars at that time had a morbid aesthetic and regarded women as playthings, and enjoying women's feet became a fetish.

In addition, in ancient times, there was a patriarchal society, "men are superior to women," the traditional customs, women wrapped feet after the mobility will be less out of the house, so wrapping the feet has become an important way to constrain women.

After the foot-binding of ancient women, people called it "three-inch golden lotus".

This small foot wrapped in cloth became the most private part of the body, exclusively for the use of their men.

At the time, the foot was never to be seen or touched by other men.

If they were accidentally touched, the woman would consider it the greatest shame of her life.

The practice of foot-binding first began during the reign of Li Yu of the Southern Tang Dynasty in 969-975 A.D. Some people think that foot-binding appeared as early as during the Warring States Period in 770-476 B.C., or even earlier, during the Shang Dynasty. In short, the small feet of this feudal society has a long history of bad customs, over the centuries has harmed countless Chinese women.

It can be said that foot binding is one of the most prominent manifestations of the patriarchal tradition of "male superiority and female inferiority".