Chinese drawing of a man overlooking a woman binding her own feet with cloth (University of California, San Diego).

Close up image of what bound feet look like. Notice how this woman's toes curl under her foot and how the bottom of the foot is level with the absence of a foot arch (Wellcome Collection).

According to Cartwright, when a family's daughter became of age to get their feet bound (around five to eight years old), they would pick out a special day to begin the foot binding process (2017). Next, they would make offerings and pray to the "Tiny-Footed Maiden Goddess" and the "Buddhist figure of Guanyin" who they believed protected women (Cartwright 2017).

After this preparation, either a professional foot binder or an elder family member would carry out the binding of the foot. Gao wrote that girls were eager to meet all of the qualifications to have their feet bound so that she could eventually gain respect and praise from her future husband and in laws because she was capable of with standing the pain. However, it was reported that some daughters screamed and protested against the binding of their feet (Tsao 1912: 64). Tsao explained that although girls are put through an immense amount of suffering during this process, their mothers continued to have it done to their daughters because they could not remember the pain and they want their daughters to be proud of having small feet like they were (1912:64).

Foot binding is a cultural practice found throughout many centuries of China's history and its beginning is heavily argued among sources. However, evidence of foot binding in China dates back as early as the Shang Dynasty that lasted from 1766 B.C.E. to 1122 B.C.E. (Drucker 1981:179). Others, like Cartwright and Gao claim that the custom began during the Tang Dynasty which occurred from 618 C.E. to 907 C.E. First, the bound feet of upper class women were a way to distinguish them from working class peasants. Lower class people eventually used foot binding as a way to up their social status (Cartwright 2017).

Cartwright shares that this cultural practice is theorized to have begun with a dancer named Yaoniang (2017). Dancers during this time wore shoes called "bow-shoes" with upward facing toes. These dancers were also known for their small feet. Overtime, foot binding evolved beyond dancing and it then symbolized "not only elegance but also moral virtue and modesty," which attracted potential husbands (Cartwright 2017). The new social values of the foot binding practice influenced families to modify their daughters' feet. This created a long lasting tradition and costly social standards of beauty and richness.

The process of foot binding was extremely painful and physically exhausting. Additionally, these consequences of foot binding remained with women for the rest of their lives. They were mostly irreversible. According to Cartwright, women sometimes lost toes and developed serious infections, such as gangrene (2017). Dorothy Ko wrote that women's feet were so small and their shoes were so tiny that it was impossible for them to walk (2005:204). However, elite women in China during the time that the foot binding tradition was practiced were not expected or encouraged to walk, or even go outdoors (2005:11). Women depended on their husbands to bring them food and to dress them (2005:21). As women aged, it became more painful for their feet to be constricted and they experienced more pain.