Foot Binding in China

'Historical artwork of a young Chinese woman binding her feet with bandages. In a practice that lasted one thousand years, young girls had their feet tightly bandaged to prevent them growing any longer than 15 centimetres. This led to painful deformities that made walking extremely difficult. It was common amongst the middle and upper classes and was seen as a mark of wealth as the women would need to be carried around and served by attendants. Foot binding was banned in 1912 with the end of imperial Chinese rule."

Foot Binding, China. Photography. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 5 Aug 2012.

NPR Morning Edition

Painful Memories for China's Footbinding Survivors

86-year old speaks

Bata Shoe Museum

Chronicles of Riches: Asia - China

Virtual View: Qing Dynasty Merchant's House

This house mirrors what Good Earth protagonist Wang Lung's home would have probably looked like once he achieved wealth.

Classroom Video On Demand: Foot-Binding in China

Foot binding

These sources are located in the Phoenix Center Library.

Remember to use quotations around sets of words:

-"foot binding" This term has several variations, so use "OR" when searching for this topic

-"foot binding" OR foot-binding" OR footbinding

-"bound feet"

-"lotus feet"

Berkshire Encylcopedia of China: Modern and historic views of the world's newest and oldest global power by Linsun Cheng
Call Number: R 951 BER v. 1
ISBN: 0977015947
Publication Date: 2009
Contains eight hundred alphabetically arranged entries that provide information on notable events, concepts, and people in the history of China, and includes sidebars, illustrations, and a comprehensive index.

For this "foot binding" search, use the term "bound feet." Look in volumes 1, 2, 5. (Vol. 5 is the index.)
Bound feet & Western dress by Pang-Mei Natasha Chang
Call Number: 305.42 CHA
ISBN: 0553506501
Publication Date: 1996
Tells the story of the author's great-aunt Chang Yu-i, a woman who challenged Chinese tradition by refusing to have her feet bound, marrying and divorcing preeminent poet Hsu Chih-mo, and running the Shanghai Women's Savings Bank during the 1930s.
Cinderella's Sisters: A revisionist history of footbinding by Dorothy Ko
Call Number: 391.4 KO
ISBN: 0520218841
Publication Date: 2005
Traces the history of footbinding from its origins in the dance culture of China's medieval court to its continued use in the twenty-first century, discussing what the purpose of footbinding is and how it has been used throughout history.
Splendid Slippers: A thousand years of an erotic tradition by Beverly Jackson
Call Number: 391.6 JAC
ISBN: 0898159571
Publication Date: 1997
Explores the facts and the fiction surrounding the Chinese custom of breaking and binding the feet of girls into the shape of a pointed lotus bud, and includes photographs of the exquisite, tiny slippers worn by women with bound and deformed feet.
Chinese Dress: From the Qing Dynasty to the present by Valery Garrett
Call Number: 951 GAR
ISBN: 0804836639
Publication Date: 2007
Traces the history of Chinese dress from the Qing Dynasty to the present, discussing how historical, cultural, and social changes have influenced the dress of Chinese peasants, royalty, soldiers, and ordinary citizens.