Caught in a Bind Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lotus feet

The most desirable lotus foot measured three Chinese inches (around 10cm) and was known as the "golden lotus." A "silver lotus" foot was acceptable at four Chinese inches, but five Chinese inches or longer was not particularly desirable and was called an "iron lotus". The pride women had in the size of their feet was reflected in their delicately embroidered silk slippers and bindings.

It's reminiscent of the tiny waists that women in Victorian England - and up to the 1950s - suffered so much to achieve (but their pain pales into insignificance compared to the agony those little Chinese girls were forced to endure, without quite knowing why it was being done to them).

Answer: Toe dance, ballet-like, inside a six-foot golden lotus

Emperor Li Yu (Southern Tang of the Ten Kingdoms) ruled in the tenth-century, before the Song dynasty. He created a six-foot tall golden lotus, decorated it with precious stones, and his concubine, Yao Niang - with feet bound in white silk shaped to look like the crescent moon - danced inside it on her toes, ballet-like. Seeing Yao Niang's graceful dance, other women sought to emulate her.

Answer: Women believed tiny feet were desirable, conferring social status

Initially, foot binding was limited to dancers in the Imperial Chinese court. During the Song dynasty it gained popularity with women from wealthy families who could afford to have their feet bound; and, through their influence, the 'lotus foot' became a symbol of social status and beauty in Chinese culture. The custom eventually spread to all social classes, but its prevalence varied in different parts of China. There was no edict from the Emperor, or officials, forcing women to bind their feet. It was a fashion that unfortunately became a tradition.

Answer: Cucumber foot

It was given the name 'cucumber foot' because of its slender shape. Rather than forcing up the heel and tapering the ankle, this less severe form of foot binding in Sichuan just folded the four toes under the foot.

Interestingly, Harbin - in northern China - was where the last manufacturer making shoes for foot-bound women closed in 1999.

Answer: Manchu women wanted the same 'desirability' as Han women

Manchu women did not follow the severe bone-breaking and foot binding of the Han women. Instead, they wrapped their feet tightly to give an appearance of slenderness. They also invented their own type of shoe which allowed them to walk with the same swaying gait and daintiness of foot-bound Han women. These 'shoes' had a wooden platform or pedestal, up to six inches in height, which was fitted to the middle of the sole. Reminds you of high heeled western shoes, doesn't it?

Answer: Eldest daughter

Foot binding was a long and expensive process. Professional foot binders were needed to break the toes and attend to the ongoing binding. So, poor families chose the eldest daughter in the hope that she would quickly marry a rich man and in doing so help support the rest of the family. Other than the physical pain she was forced to endure, the eldest daughter was pampered and raised to be a lady. Her younger sisters were treated brutally, becoming domestic or field slaves - but at least they could run away if life at home became too unbearable for them.

Answer: Limited mobility and total dependence on others

Women with bound feet had limited mobility. It was difficult for them to walk very far and for this reason most stayed home and had little social life. It was impossible for them to escape. They were, of course, totally dependent on others, especially their husbands. In the event of a husband's death - or if they never found a husband in the first place - they became virtual family slaves.

While field work may have been very difficult for them, they were ideally suited for hand craft-work - and some scholars believe that some mothers deliberately bound their daughters' feet in order to enslave them. Other foot-bound women found employment as 'dainty' dancers.

Answer: Heavenly Foot Society

It was actually called the Natural Foot Society, but in Chinese "tianzu" literally translates as Heavenly Foot. This society was then championed by the Woman's Christian Temperance Movement (founded in 1883) which actively promoted equality between the sexes.

Opposition to foot binding was already existent in China. The Hakka Han Chinese people, particularly, had never adopted the tradition, believing it to be a cruel assault on little girls. Gradually, reform-minded Chinese intellectuals took up the cause, but they rejected Christianity as the means by which reform should take place.

Answer: Economic

Kang Youwei's Anti-Footbinding Society promoted the abolition of foot binding on fundamental economic reasons - believing that better health and more mobility would not only lead to a stronger national identity but, more importantly, a more efficient labour force. Women with bound feet were a drain on the nation, totally dependent on others, an economic waste of space.

Answer: Feet inspectors and fines

The new Republic of China government, led by intellectuals rather than aristocrats, saw foot binding not as a cultural tradition but as a symbol of China's backwardness. In regional areas feet inspectors were employed to stamp out foot binding of little girls, and heavy fines were imposed on those who continued it. This enforcement was successful, but in the more remote areas foot binding lingered.