Foot Emancipation Society

The Foot Emancipation Society (Chinese: 不缠足会; pinyin: Bù chánzú huì), or Anti-footbinding Society (戒缠足会; Jiè chánzú huì), was a civil organization which opposed foot binding in late Qing dynasty China.

Foot binding was a custom practiced on young girls and women for approximately one thousand years in China, beginning in the 10th century.

[2] After the First Opium War, China signed the 1842 "Treaty of Nanking" with Britain, which forced the Qing government to open the five ports.

The writings of Richard would influence Chinese reformers Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao who then challenged the practice of footbinding.

In 1887, Kang Youwei and Qu Eliang established the "Foot Emancipation Society" in the Nanhai District, of Foshan City; however, it was abandoned due to public opposition.

In 1902, Empress Dowager Cixi announced a ban on foot-binding to appease foreigners, but it was rescinded a short time later.

In 1904, foot binding was outlawed in many provinces, and some governmental officers asked their wives or daughters to release their bound feet.