While tidying up my girlfriend’s apartment I picked up her running shoes and stopped for a second to marvel at how tiny her feet were (she’s a US 6½). I didn’t give it much more thought and continued cleaning. Later on I thought had I been Chinese and living 100 or more years ago my reaction to a woman’s shoe of that size may have been much different. I might be a little put off, thinking feet so big were unattractive.

In old China the smaller a woman’s foot the prettier. In the Song Dynasty the preference for small or ‘lily’ feet led to the introduction of foot binding. In order to fit into small (4 inch) shoes, infant girls toes would be curled over and bound and left like that for her entire life. This caused discomfort and even pain and ultimately left her with permanently disfigured feet. On the up side it greatly increased her desirability to the opposite sex and the likelihood of marrying into a wealthy family.

Foot binding was banned in 1911, and since then almost unheard of. Working in China for a summer I’ve never seen anyone with them. I hear there are some people who still bear the marks of this practice. Being quite old and having trouble walking significant distances I don’t think I’m likely to see anyone with lily feet next time I wander down Wangfujing Street in Beijing on my way to the night markets.