Shocking pictures show the residents of China's Bound Feet Women Village - where pensioners suffer the agonizing effects of the 1,000-year-old practice
- Shocking pictures show the effects of foot binding on more than 100 elderly women living in village in China
- The process involves breaking bones and toes in feet and then tightly wrapping them with material
- It began in the early 600s and was a sign of wealth and high status in the country for centuries
- But by the 20th Century it was banned after society turned against the process and considered it 'backwards'
These are the shocking images that show pensioners in China suffering the painful effects of the 1,000-year-old practice of foot binding.
More than 100 women aged 70 and older partake in the custom in the village of Liuyi in the Yunnan Province, with the location dubbed the 'Bound Feet Women Village' as a result.
The custom involves tightly wrapping the feet of young girls to change their shape and was popular among wealthy women who did not have to work, and therefore 'did not need to use their feet'.
It also became a sign of beauty and affected limbs became known as lotus feet in the country.
These images show the horrific effects of the ancient Chinese tradition of footbinding, when girls aged four to nine would have their toes and bones broken before their feet were tightly bound in material in a process that was supposed to show wealth and high status. Pictured is a woman's foot in Liuyi Village, where more than 100 elderly women who have undergone the process live
This bound foot shows dry and cracked skin and toes mashed together. It belongs to 100-year-old Luo Pu, who lives in Liuyi, known as Bound Feet Women Village due to the high proportion of women who live their who have experienced the process, which dates to the early 600s and was banned in 1912
100-year-old bound feet woman surnamed Luo Pu displays her feet at her home in Liuyi village, known as the 'Bound feet Women Village where over 100 female pensioners with bound feet live. The Chinese custom of foot binding was discontinued in the early 20th century
But the images suggest the feet are anything but, with toes shown contorted around each other while the skin itself appears dry and cracked.
Binding was often performed on girls aged between four and nine during winters, when the cold temperatures were more likely to numb feet against pain.
Luo Pu takes the binding off her feet: Foot binding was once a symbol of beauty and status. It was carried out in China from the 10th century. Also known as lotus feet, it fell out of favour in the early 20th century before it was then outlawed in 1911
100-year-old Luo Pu poses for pictures with her son inside her home located in China's Bound Feet Women Village, where pensioners suffer the effects of the 1,000 year old practice
Photos show the damaging affect that foot binding has had on women with their skin incredibly dry and cracked and their toenails completely out of shape. The process of foot binding was incredibly painful at the time and involved breaking of bones
It involved breaking and mutilating toes and bones, while toenails were also cut very short before the bandages were applied.
The custom is believed to have started sometime in the 600s, although the exact origin remains unknown.
Several origin stories exist for the process, with many involving dancing. Women who have undergone foot binding continue to dance, with women in Liuyi wearing 'Three Cuns Golden Lotus' shoes for their Bound Feet Women Dancing Team. Bound feet were often called lotus feet
The Bound Feet Women Dancing Team are pictured here practicing martial arts as part of their routine, with each wearing their special lotus shoes
Members of the Bound Feet Women Dancing Team dance on their 'Three Cuns Golden Lotus' shoes inside Liuyi Village, famous for its residents who all have bound feet and are over 70 years old
Zhou Guizhen is 86-years-old shows off one of her bound feet where the bones in the four small toes were broken and forced underneath the foot over a period of time
According to popular Chinese legend, the custom was first adopted among courtesans after a Tang Dynasty emperor fell in love with a concubine who wrapped her tiny feet in silk when she danced 1,000 years ago
One explanation offered is that a Chinese emperor fell in love with a dancer whose feet were bound with silk, while another claims an emperor's favourite concubine had a clubfoot and so asked him to make foot binding compulsory for all girls so her feet would not be considered ugly.
Dancing appears to be part and parcel of the process, as women in Liuyi who have had foot binding performed have formed their own dancing teams.
But the process was banned in China in 1912 after it was considered 'backwards'. It became further stigmatised under Communist rule, and the last reported case of a child undergoing foot binding was in 1957.
100-year-old bound feet woman Luo Pu displays her bound feet in her home. The effects of the tradition can be seen from her dry and cracked feet. The Chinese custom of foot binding was abolished in the early 20th century
A close up of the feet of an aristocratic Chinese woman deformed by binding. Foot binding in China was abolished in 1902
The process was carried out on young girls, usually during winter when their feet were supposedly more numb to the pain due to the cold weather. Three youngsters are pictured here with bound feet in Imperial China before the practice was outlawed. Feet binding was considered backward by the Chinese Communist Party when it came to power and the last known case in the country occurred in 1957
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alot of multilation is always aimed at women,,
by markat 439