“Lotus leg” or why Chinese women disfigure their legs
Good day! Have you seen photographs of Chinese women's feet that were specially mutilated to be incredibly small? Why is the tiny foot so valued in China and where did this strange tradition come from...
The origins of Chinese “foot binding” go back to ancient times, to the 10th century. Legend says: “Emperor Li Yu had a favorite concubine named “Beautiful Girl,” who had exquisite beauty and was a gifted dancer. The Emperor ordered for her a lotus made of gold, about 1.8 cm high, decorated with pearls and with a red carpet in the center. The dancer was ordered to tie a white silk cloth around her foot and bend her toes so that the curve of her foot resembled the crescent of the moon. Dancing in a circle, reminiscent of a rising cloud." Her small steps and swaying became legendary and marked the beginning of a centuries-old tradition.
In old China, girls began to have their feet bandaged from the age of 4-5 (infants could not yet endure the torment of tight bandages that crippled their feet).
All fingers, with the exception of the thumb, were pressed tightly against the sole. The foot was then wrapped lengthwise to bend it into an arch. They changed shoes regularly, each time smaller than the previous pair. For a child it was terrible torture. The legs were swollen, bleeding, oozing pus, bones were breaking.
By the age of 10, if the girl survived, the leg was “ready.” The length of the foot did not exceed 7-10 cm. At the same time, the leg was so deformed that it hardly resembled a human limb. After this, she began to learn the correct “adult” gait. And after another two or three years she was already a ready-made girl of marriageable age.
The tiny feet were compared to a lotus or lily flower, and the procedure itself was called “Golden Lotuses.” Because of this, making love in China was called “walking among the golden lotuses.”
The smaller a girl’s leg was, the more her “market value” increased, that is, her chances of getting married successfully. When preparing the marriage, the groom's parents first asked about the bride's feet, and only then about her face.
The foot was considered her main human quality.
The size of the lotus foot has become an important condition for marriages. Brides with large feet were subjected to ridicule and humiliation, as they looked like common women who worked in the fields and could not afford the luxury of foot binding.
Custom prescribed that the female figure should “shine with the harmony of straight lines,” and for this purpose, a girl already at the age of 10-14 years old had her chest tightened with a canvas bandage, a special bodice or a special vest. The development of the mammary glands was suspended, the mobility of the chest and the supply of oxygen to the body were sharply limited. Usually this had a detrimental effect on the woman’s health, but she looked “elegant”, which ensured her the attention of suitors.
Although it is difficult for Europeans to imagine, the “lotus leg” was not only the pride of women, but also the object of the highest aesthetic and sexual desires of Chinese men. It is known that even a fleeting sight of a lotus leg could cause a strong attack of sexual arousal in men.
At the same time, men were reasonably advised not to remove the bandages from women’s feet, content with the appearance of them in shoes, otherwise “the aesthetic sense will be offended.” In bed, the Chinese woman did not part with her shoes. The feet were washed separately from the rest of the body, and never in the presence of a man. In addition to their frightening appearance, they smelled terrible. After washing, they were doused with alum and perfume and bandaged again, like a mummy. The washing process helped restore blood circulation. Figuratively speaking, the mummy was unwrapped, magic was cast on it, and it was wrapped again, adding even more preservatives.
Chinese women paid a very high price for beauty and sex appeal. The owners of perfect legs were doomed to a lifetime of physical suffering and inconvenience. Petrified calluses formed; nails grew into the skin; the foot was bleeding and bleeding pus; blood circulation practically stopped. Such a woman limped when walking, leaned on a stick or moved with the help of servants. To avoid falling, she had to walk in small steps. In fact, every step was a fall, from which the woman kept herself from falling only by hastily taking the next step. The walk required enormous effort.
The miniature size of the foot was achieved due to its severe mutilation. Sometimes the wives and daughters of wealthy Chinese had their feet so disfigured that they were almost completely unable to walk on their own. They said about such women: “They are like reeds that sway in the wind.”
In the 18th century, Parisian women copied “lotus slippers”; they were featured in designs on Chinese porcelain, furniture and other trinkets of the fashionable “chinoiserie” style.
It’s amazing, but true - the Parisian designers of the new era, who invented pointed-toed women’s high-heeled shoes, called them nothing more than “Chinese shoes”
Although Chinese women have not bandaged their feet for almost a hundred years (binding was officially banned in 1912), the traditions associated with this custom have proven to be extremely tenacious.
To at least roughly feel what the “Lotus Leg” is:
Take a piece of cloth about three meters long and five centimeters wide.
Take a pair of children's shoes.
Curl your toes, except your big one, inside your foot. Wrap the material around your toes first and then your heel. Bring your heel and toes as close to each other as possible. Wrap the remaining material tightly around your foot. Place your foot into the baby shoes.
Try taking a walk.
Imagine that you are five years old...
...and that you will have to walk this way for the rest of your life.
To top it all off, I’ll say: my feet are size 37 and I’m so glad about it 
All the best!
Ping Yao. In 2007 she was already 100 years old. She took off her shoes without hesitation to pose for the photographer
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Today in China there are very few women with “lotus legs” left. Most of them are over 90 years old and live somewhere in remote villages. Since 2005, Jo Farrell has photographed and interviewed approximately 55 such women in the provinces of Shandong, Yunnan and Shanxi.
Xi Yin Zhen. Her feet began to be bandaged at the age of 7, and this continued throughout her life.
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“At their age, it’s easy to feel like you don’t need anyone. Perhaps my project gave them a sense of need.” It is usually not the models themselves who object, but their children, out of fear of excessive publicity on such a sensitive topic.
In 2014, 9 years after starting the photography project, Jo Farrell launched a Kickstarter fundraiser to continue her work and release the album Living History: Bound Feet Women of China.
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After the book was published, these incredible black and white photographs instantly gained the fame they deserve. Now Joe Farrell is working on the second edition of the album, with new photographs.
