Protestant Missionaries Catalysts in the Abolition of Foot-binding in China

Authors

Aaron Anderson, Brigham Young University

Keywords

Foor binding, Missionary Work, Chinese women

Abstract

Known as the "custom that lasted a thousand years," the binding of women's feet in imperial China was practiced by women of all social classes. 1 When Protestant missionaries began to establish mission stations in Qing Dynasty China during the 1800s, they came face to face with foot-binding at its zenith. 2 In the absence of official statistics documenting how prevalent the custom was, a missionary observer's estimate that roughly 90% of the Chinese women had bound feet serves as a revealing clue of the practice's universal acceptance.3 Considering how widely practiced and long-lasting the tradition of foot-binding was, the swiftness of its abolition in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century is particularly noteworthy. What caused the rapid demise of this practice? Without suggesting that the demise of foot-binding can be entirely attributed to one factor, this paper will address the influence of Protestant missionaries in the abolition of foot-binding. Numerous primary sources from this era point to the significant role missionaries in China had in the eradication of foot-binding.

Recommended Citation

Anderson, Aaron (2005) "Protestant Missionaries Catalysts in the Abolition of Foot-binding in China," The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing: Vol. 34: Iss. 1, Article 3.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/thetean/vol34/iss1/3