On 20 October 1998, the Zhiqiang Shoe Factory in Harbin, China sent out a press release stating that they were officially halting production of a curious variety of footwear known as "lotus shoes.” This announcement may appear pedestrian to Western eyes, but in a way it was a symbolic epitaph for a bizarre custom which had been in practice in parts of China for about a thousand years: a process known as foot binding. Until the mid-twentieth century, a girl born into an affluent family in China was almost certain to be taken aside sometime in her first few years to begin a process of sculpting her feet into tiny, pointed "lotus” feet. This body modification was intended to attract suitors and flaunt one’s upper-crusty status. The culture at large considered these reshaped feet to be beautiful, and the dainty gait that resulted from such radically reshaped extremities was seen as alluring, but the process of producing lotus feet was grisly, problematic, and led to lifelong podiatric problems.Foot binding was usually conducted in winter months so that the cold could be used to help numb the injuries and prevent infection. Sometime after a daughter of the well-to-do turned 2 years old, and generally before they turned 5, the young girl and her malleable skeleton were taken aside by an elder female family member or a professional foot binder to initiate the foot-altering process. Though there was an old saying that a mother couldn’t love her daughter and her daughter’s feet at the same time, the procedure was seldom carried out by the mother personally because she would likely find it difficult to ignore the child’s considerable distress. To begin the foot binding process, the foot binder would gently soak the child’s feet in a solution of animal blood and herbs. Her toenails were trimmed and groomed, and her feet were thoroughly massaged. Once the skin was softened and the muscles were relaxed, the foot binder would curl the child’s toes down towards the sole of the foot as far as the bones would allow. The binder would then curl the toes farther than the bones would allow, snapping the toddler’s phalanges and forming a kind of twisted foot-fist. No manner of pain relief was employed during this process, so the binder was required to disregard any agonized screams. Next, the arch was broken.

I think it is meaningless. They used to do it just because of their traditions. A girl’s feet were broken when she was between 2 and 5 years old. Children are much more sensitive to pain than adults. I cant understand these kind of traditions.