Foot binding
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Foot binding, or footbinding, was the Chinese custom of breaking and tightly binding the feet of young girls to change their shape and size. Feet altered by foot binding were known as lotus feet and t
A Chinese woman showing her foot, image by Lai Afong, c. 1870s
18th-century illustration showing Yao Niang binding her own feet
Southern Song zaju actresses with a form of footbinding of the period
Small bound feet were once considered beautiful while large unbound feet were judged as crude.
Artificial cranial deformation or modification, head flattening, or head binding is a form of body alteration in which the skull of a human being is deformed intentionally. It is done by distorting th
Foot binding
…Lisa See's novel Lady Tan's Circle of Women (2023) inspired by the life of Tan Yunxian also describes the tradition of foot binding for young girls. Artificial cranial deformation Body modification…
Elongated skull excavated in Samarkand (600–800 CE), Afrasiab Museum of Samarkand
Portrait of a Yuezhi prince from Khalchayan, circa 1st century CE, showing elongated skull.
Portrait of Alchon Hun king Khingila, from his coinage, c. 450 CE
Legendary Iranian king Rostam, depicted in this 7th-century CE mural at Panjikent, Sogdia, with an elongated skull in the fashion of the Alchon Huns.