Educational Media Reviews Online

This documentary is a powerful investigation of how bound feet have gone from revered, to reviled, and finally to a curiosity in Chinese society. Chinese Footbinding: the Vanishing Lotus explains how foot binding came to be widespread among the Han Chinese by exploring the roots of its popularity with the upper class, its expansion to commoners through its association with beauty and marriage; and its decline in the modern era.

Featuring interviews with a number of the few surviving women whose feet had been bound in their youth, this film effectively explores the place bound feet held in Chinese society for a thousand years. Filmakers Tang Yuen Mei Joani and Fung Wing Chuen Tely deftly intertwine the interviews together with a discussion of the rise and fall of the practice. Of special interest is the description of the human toll the practice took upon the interviewees. These women speak of the pain they endured while having their feet bound as children, the awkward position bound feet put them in during the Republican Era and the transition to communist rule, and the special challenges they face in everyday life. Some of them also mention the pride and sense of attractiveness they derive from their bound feet. A discussion of foot binding would not be complete without this examination of the place sexual attraction and beauty had in the practice. This film should be of interest to those with an interest in Chinese history, the place of women in Chinese society, and the changing nature of the perception of beauty. While some of the images are graphic and painful this film is highly recommended for viewers from high school through adult and to the libraries that serve them.