The subject of presented article centres around the ideal of beauty in Chinese culture, focusing especially on the ritual of foot binding. The authoress describes the legendary origins of the process (e. g. the story about the dance of Yao Niang or the one about deformed feet of Shang dynasty emperor's wife) and then moves to the history of foot binding. With history as a background, the authoress shows the meaning of foot binding in China (both it the field of beauty and social status), it's symbolic associations (e. g. like a lotus), and describes brutal and deforming process that led to "perfect feet" (small, slender, pointy and delicate).