Analyzing an Artifact – Lotus Shoe from China

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The lotus shoe is an artifact from the Chinese culture which existed in the 19th century. Its main objective was to bind the Chinese women’s feet in pursuit of a crescent-like new moon shape. The process of foot binding began when a girl was five to six years old and lasted for two years. Parents would break the girls’ feet and bind them to fit three inches long without exceeding five inches. Ideally, this binding process marked a woman’s beauty by terming the feet as golden lotuses.
I learned about the artifact from the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture website (n.d.), which vividly explains the practice in detail, enabling one to understand and comprehend what used to occur among the Chinese in ancient times. From a cultural perspective, the foot binding practice symbolized a woman’s higher beauty status, improving her suitability for marriage. T...