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Introducing Beverley Jackson's fascinating and informative new book about the ancient tradition of Chinese foot binding and the beautiful shoes they wore.
excerpts from the book
 "For well over a thousand years, Chinese men and women pursued the ideal known as san zun jin lian,the three-inch golden lily, or golden lotus, as it is also called. The driving force behind this desire was complex: it had to do with marriage; it had to do with sex; it had to do with status; it had to do with beauty; it had to do with duty. Whatever the rationale, the fact is that by the time the practice was abandoned, millions of Chinese women had endured the unimaginable pain of the footbinding process, and in doing so, had sacrificed forever their ability to move about freely and normally." p. 24
 "Contrary to general belief, footbinding was not begun in infancy. A girl's foot had to be quite well developed before it could be worked with properly to achieve the desired shape and size. The more fully developed the arch of the foot was, the better it could be broken to achieve the desired cleft in the foot between the front part of the foot and the heel. This cleft was the third requirement for a perfectly bound foot..." p. 27
"...Very rarely would a Chinese man ever see a bound foot without the white bandages covering it. He might know what every other part of the woman's body looked like, including the genitals. Her body was very real to him, but the feet were literally shrouded in mystery. ..." p. 107
"Homosexual men were known to both tight and loose-bind their feet..." p. 112
Note: You can click on any image to see a larger version of it.
 To obtain this intriguing publication, go to Amazon.com to order your copy of Splendid Slippers today!
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