Chinese foot binding was a historical practice, originating during the Song Dynasty and lasting nearly a thousand years, where young girls’ feet were tightly bound to achieve a small, deformed shape known as “lotus feet,” which symbolized beauty, femininity, and high social status. Though initially practiced by the elite, it spread across social classes as a way to enhance marriage prospects. The process was extremely painful, causing lifelong disabilities and difficulty in walking. Foot binding

Do you know why this woman’s feet look like this? This was an old tradition in China known as “lotus feet,” where foot growth was drastically altered from childhood to keep feet extremely small. The process involved breaking the four smaller toes and folding them underneath the sole, then tightly binding the foot with long cloth wraps to break the arch and bring the heel closer to the toes. These bindings were tightened regularly, aiming for a foot no more than 7–10 centimeters in length. In anc