Legend has it that the origins of foot binding go back as far as the Shang dynasty, which ruled between 1700 and 1027 B.C.
Historical records from the Song dynasty show that foot binding began during the reign of Li Yu, who ruled over one part of China between 961 and 975.
He was in love with a talented dancer who bound her feet to imitate the shape of a new moon and performed a "lotus dance", which gives bound feet their name -- "three-inch lotuses".