of Chinese society would depend on the working bodies of both men and women. As a result, women were pushed to have formal education and start working, rather than just stay at home with bound feet. Per Dorothy Ko, anti-footbinding reformists introduced a “view of the body as machine”, which means that the body functioned most productively if each citizen, including every woman, use every part of their body and maintain optimal health for the benefit of the Chinese nation. This point of view was so powerful yet persuasive, it was well received and accepted by the general public, and the practice of footbinding started to diminish.
By 1908, the majority Chinese public had an opinion that was against footbinding. By 1911, the Qing Empire
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In 1896, Liang Qichao, who was one of China’s most famous public intellectuals and reforms, wrote “On Women’s Education”, which he pointed that “for thousands of years, Chinese women had been consumers and not a single one of them had produced any profit…no wonder men keep them as dogs, horses, and slaves.” Qichao’s publication had encouraged a large number of readers to join the reformists’ lead and started to support and contribute to the anti-footbinding movements, aiming to make China more competitive and strong. Just one year after Liang Qichao’s and Kang Youwei (Liang’s mentor)’s Anti-Footbinding Society was set up, its member reached 300,000 …show more content…
The Natural Foot Society used a photograph to expose the deformed bones of bound feet compared to normal bones, and made it into a poster with a photograph called “ A New Way to See Through Bones”, that delivered the suffering message that was caused by the practice. This poster was widely distributed in Beijing city and its suburb area, and received enthusiastic responses from women. This photograph was also published in the Illustrated London News on 15 February