Foot-binding is a custom in ancient and even modern China, that is, women's feet are wrapped in cloth and silk, making it a small and sharp "three-inch golden lotus". "Three-inch golden lotus" once became an important aesthetic condition for ancient women in China. In the era of foot binding, most women began to bind their feet from the age of four or five, and did not untie the cloth until the bones were fixed in adulthood. Some of them were imprisoned for life.

There are different opinions about the origin of foot binding from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Some say it began in the Sui Dynasty, some say it began in the Tang Dynasty, and some say it began in the Five Dynasties. Some people even say that Yu's wife and da ji in Xia and Shang Dynasties were both small feet.

According to modern scholars' research, foot binding rose in the Northern Song Dynasty. Foot-binding in the Song Dynasty was to wrap the feet "straight" without bending. Foot-binding in Yuan Dynasty continued to develop in a slim direction. In the Ming Dynasty, the wind of foot-binding entered a prosperous period, and the saying of "three-inch golden lotus" appeared, which required that the feet should not only be as small as three inches, but also bend over and bend their backs. The wind of foot-binding in Qing dynasty spread to women in all walks of life, rich and poor.