In the Song Dynasty, only aristocratic women bound their feet, while ordinary women did not. Moreover, the requirements for foot binding at that time were only straight, which was not so bad for later generations.
It is said that ancient women bound feet because Li Yu, queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty, liked to watch women dance on the "Golden Lotus". Because the golden lotus is too small, the dancer wraps her feet with white silk and stands on it with her feet bent. When dancing, it is graceful and gentle. At first, it was a dance costume, and then it gradually spread from the harem to the upper class. Later, folk women followed suit and gradually became a common social custom.
Beauty is very important to women. It is an important means and way to get a better life. As for whether we can leave, who cares?
Why is foot binding popular in China? There are roughly two reasons, one is the influence of the ruler's will on people all over the world, and the other is the appreciation and praise of intellectuals. Foot-binding has its origin and is related to rulers. It is said that foot-binding originated from Li Yu, queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty, who sang "When is the Spring Flower and the Autumn Moon". His concubines wrapped their feet in a crescent shape with cloth and danced on a lotus made of gold. Li Houzhu thought it was the most beautiful, so they began to bind their feet in the harem and later spread to the people. As long as the emperor likes something, it will be welcomed by the people The emperors of the Tang Dynasty liked Taoist culture, and Xuanzong even claimed to be the Taoist emperor. Therefore, Taoism reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty, and Emperor Qianlong loved calligraphy and promoted its development. Li Houzhu likes women with small feet, and they all become very popular. There are several opinions about the origin of foot binding, some say it originated from Pan Yunv, the imperial concubine of the Southern Dynasties, some say it originated from the late Tang Dynasty, and some say it originated from Yang Di. But they all had relations with the rulers without exception, which also explained this reason.
Apart from the will of the rulers, that is the influence of literati on social customs. In ancient times, women paid great attention to headdress, and then left it at their feet. The idioms "commenting" and "commenting" all have the meaning of discussing women's appearance and posture. Head and foot have become an important standard of female beauty in the eyes of cultural people. There are many words of praise from intellectuals for Feet, such as "Golden Lotus", "Three-inch Golden Lotus" and "Xianggou". Su Dongpo's "Bodhisattva Man" chants "It's hard to say exquisite, but you must look at it from the palm of your hand", and even sets seven criteria for the beauty of small feet: thinness, smallness, pointiness, bending and so on.