ETHNOGRAPHY : ASIA

Object Name: Shoes
Place Made: [Manchuria]
Description: Shoes for bound feet, gong xie (弓鞋). Small pair of black silk shoes for bound feet with bright pink, yellow and green embroidery of plants. The lining of the shoes indicate they were commercially made in the early 20th century, a time when foot binding was beginning to become controversial in China. Small feet on women were a sign of beauty in China for centuries, with 3 inches being considered an ideal beauty. The practice in which the feet of girls were bound started at an early age to keep them small and pointed is no longer carried out in China. It causes much damage and pain to the women involved. The lotus flower shoes were for bound feet, and they speak to the social boundaries between the Chinese Han majority and the Manchu women, who were forbidden to bound their feet, and so they adopted the platform shoes.
Materials: silk
Catalogue Number: BELUM.C5037
Notes: National Museums NI

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