From the Collection: Lotus Shoes

by Katrina Nicolson

One of the most horrific artefacts in the Shrine’s collection isn’t a weapon—it is a beautifully made pair of tiny shoes.

A pair of small shoes held in the Shrine Collection are euphemistically known as ‘lotus shoes’. They are a relic of the ancient Chinese practice of foot binding and are uncommon in Australian collections. The name comes from the lotus bud shape created by the foot binding, with the heel the round base and the toes the pointed tip. Able Seaman Frederick Gries of the Victorian Naval Brigade acquired this example during the Boxer Rebellion (1900–1901).

Foot binding, chan zu, was practiced by sections of Chinese society for around 1,000 years until banned by the Communist regime in the twentieth century. It is believed to have originated with Song Dynasty (960–1279) court dancers in the tenth century who bound their feet into the shape of a half moon and danced upon their toes. The resultant tiny feet and body sway, imparted by the particular gait enforced by the binding shoes, became associated with sensuality and desirability to men. Gradually, elite women took up the practice, which over time diffused to the wider female population. A small ‘lotus foot’ became a prized attribute, conferring status and marriageability upon a woman.

The lotus shoe came to symbolically demonstrate that status. A woman would hand-embroider a pair of shoes to send to a prospective husband for his and, importantly, his family’s judgement. The quality of her embroidery and the size of her feet frequently determined her desirability. Highly elaborate embroidery and small shoes were associated with the qualities of fortitude, patience, self-discipline, household skill and an artistic nature.

The shoes themselves were made with a basic cotton base, which could be decorated in materials that reflected the relative wealth of the owner such as silks and gold or silver threads. Shoe colours and designs developed their own symbology in line with Chinese culture. Red symbolised festivity and virtue so was often used in marriage shoes. White symbolised mourning and the strict interpretation of the shade— ranging from pure white, through greys, to black—defined the relationship with the deceased and the length of the mourning period, which could be up to 27 months. Flora and fauna were popular motifs and emblems denoting the seasons, good luck, longevity, good health or wearing occasions were often incorporated into the design.

It is difficult to determine the original colour of the faded silk clad pair held by the Shrine, but the red tassels indicate a festive occasion. The butterfly in Chinese culture symbolises longevity and marital happiness and is associated with young love. Two butterflies flying together, as when the shoes are paired, are a further symbol of love. So, these shoes may have been wedding shoes— perhaps a bride’s, maybe a guest’s—we don’t know.

The ideal, or ‘golden lotus’, foot was around 7cm in length, the ‘silver lotus’ 7 to 9cm; an unbound or poorly bound foot was sometimes insultingly termed ‘iron lotus’. The Shrine shoes are 13cm in length, so the owner’s feet would have been a little smaller. To put it in perspective, the average women’s shoe size in Australia is an 8, which is 25cm long. The beautiful name belies the horrific nature of the practice. The only way to achieve these tiny sizes was to deform perfectly healthy feet.

The process began when a girl was 5 to 8 years old, when the bones of the foot were still soft, and took 2 to 5 years to manipulate. To achieve the desired shape, her feet would be soaked in warm water and her toes curled under the sole and bound tightly; they were often broken in the process. The big toe was left to provide the required point and aid balance. Her foot would then be forced down to align with her leg and the arch bent up in a narrow horseshoe shape. Binding cloths wound in a figureeight pattern pulled the toes and heel tightly together, setting the unnatural arch in place.

The potential for infection was high and the bindings were replaced regularly— daily for the wealthy, less often for the poor—, to prevent this. At each unbinding the feet were cleaned and cared for, dead skin removed and nails cut. Then they were rebound; more tightly each time. This work was often done by an older female relative, or future mother-in-law, and sometimes by a professional foot binder. Girls were at times forced to walk long distances to speed up the process of breaking the arch. While crippling, this exercise strengthened the thigh and buttock muscles to achieve the sexually desirable ‘lotus gait.’ There is some evidence that lower class families embraced the practice as economically advantageous, as it tied women to seated cottage crafts, such as spinning, weaving, embroidery or fishnet manufacture. This was impractical for women who worked in the fields and may have given rise to the dilution of the practice in rural areas where binding was not as widespread and feet were often more loosely, or even only symbolically, bound.

With the rise of the Qing, or Manchu, Dynasty (1644–1912) various efforts were made to ban foot binding. Manchu women were forbidden to bind their feet and others were encouraged to follow suit. Despite these efforts it is estimated that as many as 40 percent of Chinese women in the nineteenth century still had bound feet. With the advent of Western missionaries in the 1850s and a general opening up of China to the West, foot binding began to be stigmatised as culturally backward. Chinese societies devoted to its elimination became increasingly popular. By 1900, when these examples were acquired, the practice was in decline.

Able Seaman Frederick Gries c 1900

Shrine Collection

Able Seaman Frederick Gries was a member of the Victorian Naval Brigade, a colonial volunteer force. Joining brigades from New South Wales and South Australia, these forces were dispatched to China in August 1900 to bolster British representation within the Eight-Nation Alliance that had formed to suppress the Boxer Rebellion. Starting as a peasant uprising, the Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fists (Boxers) eventually gained support from the Empress Dowager Tzu’u Hzi in their attempt to reduce foreign influence and expel Christian missionaries from the country. The Victorian Naval Brigade saw little action, although they witnessed atrocities by both sides, and was primarily involved in policing activities.

Gries is believed to have acquired the shoes in the Tianjin (Tientsin) region where the Brigade was based. He returned in 1901 to the newly federated Commonwealth of Australia.

The People’s Republic of China finally succeeded in banning foot binding in 1949. Progress was slow in traditional areas, and adding further indignity and pain to their experience, some women with bound feet had their bindings forcibly removed. For most however, it meant a move to utilitarian black leather shoes, which were made until the last factory closed in 1999.

It is difficult to understand women submitting to a thousand years of torture, despite the mythology of Cinderella’s glass slipper (her stepsister cuts her own toes off to fit into it!) until one contemplates the Western stiletto heel.

Katrina Nicolson is a Research Officer at the Shrine. She has worked on many special exhibitions including Indigenous Australians at War: from the Boer War to the Present and is co-curator of the Shrine’s travelling exhibitions, Australia Will Be There: Victorians in the First World War (1914–19) and Changed Forever: Legacies of Conflict.