pt. 1. The body exposed -- 1. Gigantic histories of the nation in the globe : the rhetoric of Tianzu, 1880s-1910s -- 2. The body inside out : the practice of Fangzu, 1900s-1930s -- 3. The bound foot as antique : connoisseurship in an age of disavowal, 1930s-1941 -- part 2. The body concealed -- 4. From ancient texts to current customs : in search of footbinding's origins -- 5. The erotics of place : male desires and the imaginary geography of the Northwest -- 6. Cinderella's dreams : the burden and uses of the female body.