According to the textual research on the history of foot-binding in Gao Hongxing, many historical materials prove that foot-binding originated in the Northern Song Dynasty and the custom of foot-binding rose in the Southern Song Dynasty.
Foot binding began in the Five Dynasties. It originated from Fu Niang, a dancer in Li Houzhu during the Southern Tang Dynasty. She is beautiful and versatile. She is good at singing and dancing. Li Houzhu specially made a six-foot-high golden lotus, decorated with jewels and ribbons, and ordered Fu Niang to tie her feet with silks, so that her feet were slightly bent into the shape of a crescent moon, and then she put on plain socks and danced on the lotus stage to make the dance more beautiful.
Foot-binding in Yuan Dynasty continued to develop in a slim direction. In the Ming Dynasty, the wind of foot-binding entered a prosperous period, and the saying of "three-inch golden lotus" appeared, which required that the feet should be not only as small as three inches, but also bent. However, foot-binding was not found in female corpses unearthed before the Qing Dynasty, which shows that foot-binding was not very common at that time. The storm of foot-binding in Qing dynasty affected women in all walks of life, rich or poor, but there were not a few who did not bind their feet.
Extended data
Foot-binding is an act that destroys the normal development of limbs. A woman who binds her feet should bind her feet from an early age and slowly bend the bones of her feet to deform them. A pair of small feet after foot binding not only have various inconveniences in real life, but also women have to bear great disability and pain in the whole process of foot binding. This kind of thing, which has no practical effect and makes the victims extremely painful, has become a popular and social custom for nearly a thousand years.
The influence of the ruler's will on the people of the world. Foot-binding has its origin and is related to rulers. Foot binding began in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty and rose in the Southern Song Dynasty. The royal family and the upper class in the Song Dynasty first began to bind their feet. "He Lu" records: After four years of advice, "I am very fortunate and suspicious. He frowned and said, "The Jin people drove them away and marched in Wan Li. How can they return to their original state? "... this is sad. "
"History of the Song Dynasty Five Elements" records: "Li Zongchao, the imperial secretary tied his feet straight." This is an example of female foot-binding in the royal family and palace in Song Dynasty. Su Shi's Bodhisattva Man chanting Buddha's Feet calls women's feet "palace-shaped", and Cao Yuanchong calls them "official" in a poem, which also shows that foot-binding originated from the upper class in the Song Dynasty, such as bureaucrats and nobles. Without exception, it is related to the rulers, which also explains this reason.
References:
Baidu encyclopedia: foot binding