Footbinding as FashionPrevious studies of the practice of footbinding in imperial China have theorized that it expressed ethnic identity or that it served an economic function. By analyzing the popularity of footbinding in different places and times, Footbinding as Fashion investigates the claim that early Qing (16441911) attempts by Manchu rulers to ban footbinding made it a symbol of anti Manchu sentiment and Han identity and led to the spread of the practice throughout