From Tradition to Modernity: Footbinding and Its End (1839-1911) – the History of the Anti-Footbinding Movement and the Histories of Bound-feet Women in China

The historiography of Chinese footbinding has been dominated by male narratives and a focus on anti-footbinding campaigns and policies, and has ignored the voices of the foot-bound women themselves. This article analyzes the major factors that contributed to the demise of footbinding in China from 1860 to 1911, but does so from the point of view of these silenced Chinese women. It argues that the enforcement of ‘natural feet’ upon foot-bound Chinese women, did not arise through their own choice, but rather was a result of intervention by ‘reformist’ Chinese men, a minority of educated ‘modern’ Chinese women, as well as western missionaries, who through the anti-foot-binding movement and a culture of shame robbed these women of the liberty to choose to transition from tradition to ‘modernity.