Foot Binding Chinese Tradition

The ancient Chinese custom of foot binding has caused severe life-long disability for many millions of elderly women, even in today’s China.

The practice of foot binding began in the Sung dynasty (960-976 BC), reportedly to imitate an imperial concubine who was required to dance with her feet bound. By the 12th century, the practice was widespread and more severe — girls’ feet were bound so tightly and early in life that they were unable to dance and had difficulty walking. By the time a girl turned three years old, all her toes but the first were broken, and her feet were bound tightly with cloth strips to keep her feet from growing larger than 10 cm, about 3.9 inches. The practice would cause the soles of feet to bend in extreme concavity.

This cruel practice lasted from the tenth century to 1911, when it was banned by the new Chinese republic.

UCSF researchers examined a randomly selected sample of 193 women in Beijing (93 at 80 years or older and 100 between 70 and 79 years). They found 38 percent of women in the 80s age group and 18 percent of those in the 70s age group had bound foot deformities. The study shows that women in the 80 years or older group with bound feet were more likely to have fallen during the previous year than women with normal feet (38 percent vs. 19 percent) and were less able to rise from a chair without assistance (43 percent vs. 26 percent).