... was only slightly constricting, allowing some free movement. The Yuan Dynasty introduced binding into the central and southern parts of China and footbinding was most popular in the Ming Dynasty. A famous writer, Zhu Xi helped spread footbinding by introducing it into the southern Fuijan in order to spread Chinese culture and teach proper relations between men and women. Many legends exist to explain where the creation of footbinding came about such as that it began out of sympathy for Empress Taki, who had extremely large feet. Or, where the emperor, Li Yu, ordered his favorite concubine and dancer, Lady Yao, to bind her feet and dance on a golden lotus platform decorated with pearls and gems. Thus came the name "golden lotus" and women from both inside and outside the court began binding their feet thinking them as beautiful, dainty and elegant. A main reason for the practice of ...

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