Chinese Footbinding: The History of a Curious Erotic Custom

by Howard Seymour Levy

This is the first complete history of the custom of footbinding, which persisted for a thousand years in China. Drawn from the erotic literature of traditional China and more contemporary sources, this is a detailed portrait of a practice that lay at the heart of the sexual psychology of the Chinese for whom the golden lotus or bound foot encased in tiny silken slipper and swaying willow walk of bound-footed women were the ultimate expressions of sensuality. But as the author shows, footbinding was more than an erotic custom; it was also central to the sociological position and role of women in Chinese society. The book deals with the origin, presence, and history of foot binding, the techniques associated with it, its place in erotic practices, the pain and pleasure of the custom, and its sociological importance.

Genres: China

352 pages, Hardcover

First published September 28, 2001

Reviews

[Blessy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crazy ass research, very very good. This is the book all the other people who write about footbinding read then quote.

[Nainika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Packed with facts, but a rather dull read.

[Josephine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Itself fifty years old now, this book describes in a coolly academic manner a practice that had begun to fade two generations before the book's publication. The sub-title should give readers a fair idea of the author's intention: this is something often done by women in response to societal pressure to conform to gender norms.

I'm not Chinese, culturally or genetically, so can't judge where footbinding fits in the country's history--all I can guess is that it may have been widespread but hardly universal. I suspect that it was more usual among families and societal strata which assumed that the daughters would be kept women. Not just wives, but ornaments. Daughters who married into extremely wealthy families, who would serve as concubines or courtesans or (quite frankly) prostitutes.

As for recommendations, I honestly can't imagine to whom I'd recommend this. It's something that stuck with me since high school, partly for the photographs but also for the fact that the author does take a stab at putting this in context for the West: ever walked through a high-end department store's women's shoes section. Think about it. No. Really. Think about it. There are walking shoes (Birkenstocks and Uggs and Crocs). There are dress shoes (Jimmy Choos, Ferragamos)

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book years ago after my Mom checked it out of a library, and now I think I will pursue a quest to find and purchase it. It's a book that explains the history of foot binding in China -- a custom that, in spite of the pain and mutilation it inflicted upon millions of women and young girls, persisted for over a thousand years.

[TurtleneckGirl]

More academic than SPLENDID SLIPPERS, this title presents an historical study of the origins of the custom and the movement to end it.