Binding of women’s feet was a very desirable characteristic in Chinese culture for many centuries. This fashion trend began centuries ago during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). It started out among the upper class families and became widespread among all Chinese families. This practice was common among women and was excruciatingly painful for them. The practice was started when a girl was young and they would bind her feet, basically breaking all the bones in their feet and forcing them to heal in a way that looked like horse hooves. Food binding followed a very specific ritualistic ceremony where they would push the toes under the soles of their feet and wrap their feet all the way up to their ankles in very tight wraps. As years passed, if their feet continued to grow, they would start this whole process over again- breaking the bones in their feet until they would grow into the shape of a hoove. Many women did it for the sole purpose of following the fashion trend of the time- men found women who had bound feet suitable for marriage and “wife material”. Once this fashion trend went completely out of style in 1979, many women found their husbands leaving them for women who had unbounded feet.
In “The Good Earth” O-lan never bound her feet, something that Wang Lung was not satisfied with. When Wang Lung saw Lotus and noticed that her feet where bound, he instantly fell in love for her and eventually had an affair with her.
Schiavenza, Matt. “The Peculiar History of Foot Binding in China.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 17 Sept. 2013, http://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/09/the-peculiar-history-of-foot-binding-in-china/279718/.
Great American Novels 