This Is The Last Generation Of Chinese Women To Endure The Painful Tradition Of Foot Binding

Foot binding, the practice of crushing young women's feet into tiny "lotus" feet, was widespread in China for nearly a thousand years.

Long seen as a crucial way for women to elevate their status and wealth, the practice was finally banned in 1912. In recent decades, foot binding has been all but eliminated thanks to strict enforcement by the Communist Party.

Despite the ban, some women continued to bind their feet in secret. These women, mostly hidden or forgotten in tiny Chinese villages, are the last remaining survivors of the practice.

British photographer Jo Farrell has spent the last eight years traveling all over the Chinese countryside searching for these remaining women with bound feet. Despite the stigmas that currently surround foot binding, the women that Farrell met openly showed their "lotus" feet to her and revealed their stories.

Farrell has shared some of her work with us here, but you can see more on her website, Living History. Farrell recently raised nearly $15,000 on Kickstarter to create a book of the project. You can contribute to the project or purchase a preorder of the book here.

WARNING: These photos may be upsetting to some.