Three-inch golden lotuses : achieving beauty through violence -- A brief history of footbinding -- Footbinding and the cult of the exemplary woman -- Edible beauty : food and foot fetishes in China -- Silken slippers : footbinding in Chinese erotica -- Binding, weaving, chatting : female bonding and writing -- From golden lotus to Prime Minister : a woman's tale living from mouth to mouth -- The fabric of masquerade.

Part one: History -- Introductory remarks -- Origin and presence -- Emancipation movements -- Part two: Curious -- Lotus lovers -- Wondrousness of the lotus -- Secret chronicle of the lotus interest -- Reckless and cruel treatment of the drunken lotus -- The tiny foot in truth and fiction -- Part three: Custom -- Painful history of the lotus hooks -- Ladies of the bound-foot era -- Appendix one: Form of the golden lilies -- Appendix two: The physiological effect produced by footbinding.

Splendid slippers : a thousand years of an erotic tradition / Beverley Jackson.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 178-180) and index.

"This volume is an extraordinary exploration of footbinding that encompasses Chinese art and mythology, social and political history, and truly exotic eroticism. The author's vast collection of historical and contemporary photographs, plus 40 full-color "portraits" of her most prized slippers, creates a uniquely poignant and evocative panorama."--Publishers note.

The treasure was her tiny feet. -- The three-inch golden lily. -- Splendid slippers for lotus feet. -- Gilding the lily. -- Spinning cloud silk for the gods. -- A night at the opera. -- Sex and the bound-footed girl. -- Sacrifice at the altar of beauty. -- The end of an era. -- One door closes, another door opens.