The shoe to fit this foot was somewhat smaller than the foot — about three or four inches in length. Part of the heel stuck out of the shoe and it was tied to the outside by a piece of cloth. The woman would wear thin cloth around the foot inside the shoe. On the outside, thicker cloth was wound around the ankle. The girls not only made their shoes themselves, but they also embroidered them with various designs. The design of the shoes was considered part of the accomplishment of a young woman.
The difficulty of the above legends concerning the origin of the custom is that if the feet were not bound while the child was young, it was almost impossible to do so after she had reached maturity. After twelve years of age, the foot would be about as big as it would ever get. When feet were bound at an older age, the only thing that usually happened was that the toes curled under. The heel would never grow down to toe level, and a wooden block had to be placed under the heel for support.
As with Wang Lung's daughter, who wept from the pain of her bindings when her mother tightened the bandages too tightly, it is easy to see that the entire process was a very painful one. Often the skin and flesh broke and cracked if too much pressure was applied or if the feet of an older girl were bound. If sores appeared, they were difficult to heal. The bandages had to remain on if the process was to work because of the necessity of constant pressure. Many times infection and gangrene set in and many times the girl would die from the procedure. Thus, we have the old Chinese saying: "For every pair of small feet, there is a jar full of tears."
One would think that such an unnatural and painful process would be quickly abolished, but, instead, it became a part of Chinese culture. Books were written on properly formed feet, and men praised the ones that were properly formed. Poets traveled to different areas of China to compare feet, and emperors went to the southern provinces for sexual indulgences since women in the South were famous for their small feet. Women continued the practice until well into the twentieth century, for, next to a good face, a woman was immeasurably proud of her small feet. Even though the bound feet were unmercifully painful, yet if she had a well-shaped pair, it was her pride for life.
