What is called embroidered shoes

In the big family of footwear, Chinese embroidered shoes, which are a perfect combination of shoe culture and embroidery art, are the original handicrafts of the Chinese nation, and this kind of practical life products rooted in the national culture is called "Chinese shoes" by the world. In the ancient land of China, ever since the matrilineal society was transformed into a patrilineal society, the social division of labor between men and women has been formed, and women of successive generations have inherited the ancient embroidered shoes skills, and they have told the aesthetic concepts, cultural traditions, ethical morals, and fashion values of various dynasties on the shoes, which are less than a square foot in size, with one stitch after another. The embroidery technique of embroidered shoes follows the aesthetic style of oriental decorations, emphasizing on the chapters of the upper and the spreading of the upper, with crafted decorative strips on the mouth and sole. Colorful silk threads are applied from the toe to the heel and even on the sole and insole to embroider the gorgeous patterns. Embroidered shoes embroidery theme from life, the main theme is folk culture and folk customs, the basic case of flowers, birds, grasses and insects, birds and animals, claws, flowers and fruits, mountains and rivers, scenery, theater characters and so on. Auspicious motifs include Lotus, Pomegranate, Butterfly, Dragon and Phoenix Dance, etc., which symbolize the hymn of life and a fulfilling life. When and where did the embroidered shoes, which have traveled all over the country, first originate? There is no way to prove it from the heirlooms left behind. The legend of "Jin shoes" widely circulated in Jinnan, Shanxi Province may give us some enlightenment. Two thousand six hundred years ago, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, a group of warlords competed for supremacy. At that time, Jin, located in Shanxi, was a small country, and in the year 660 B.C., Duke Xian of Jin became the king of the country and did his best to expand the territory, annexing ten vassal states in one go, and began to dominate the country. In order to remind the people of the country of his achievements, he ordered all women in the palace to have their shoes embroidered with ten kinds of fruits and flowers, such as pomegranates, peach blossoms, Buddha's hands and grapes, etc. He also ordered that all common women in the country had to have these embroidered "Ten Fruit Shoes" as the wedding shoes, so that they would not forget Duke Xian of Jin's great achievements for many generations. so that the great achievements of Duke Xian of Jin would not be forgotten for generations to come. At that time, these embroidered shoes were called "Jin shoes". From then on, the embroidery craft of Jin was extended to include embroidered shoes, embroidered clothes and other items. Three hundred years later, in 313 B.C., Xunzi, a great philosopher in ancient China, was born in the hometown of embroidered shoes. Xunzi attached great importance to the local embroidery industry, and one of the essays in his famous book Xunzi records the promotion of the embroidery process using iron needles, and praises the embroidery needles from a philosopher's point of view, believing that iron needles not only embroider shoes but also "cover the people down below, and adorn the emperors and kings up above," thus contributing to the prosperity and stability of society and the economy. Until modern times, the region's silk weaving and embroidery were famous far and wide, and local women began to embroider on shoes from childhood, and they stayed at home for more than ten years to embroider shoes for marriage, embroidering the innocent love of young girls into the shoes to express their fidelity to love and the pursuit of happiness. Historical changes have made the production of embroidered shoes and the level of embroidery a prerequisite for local evaluation of a girl's dexterity. From their own wedding day to the child's full moon and birthday, from the family's birthday to the old man's funeral, they use a pair of embroidered shoes to show their talent, wisdom and artistic charm on the occasion of all life's major events. Not coincidentally, in ethnic minority areas to find the whereabouts of embroidered shoes are similar to the "ten fruit shoes" legend: the Baoan people living in Gansu Province, Jishishan Mountain, Dahejia area of the Baoan people, so far retained the national tradition of wearing embroidered shoes, the national region passed down the ancient poetic art of "flowers The old poetic art of "flower" handed down in this ethnic area is sung in this way: "The green satin is cut off diagonally from the upper, and ten kinds of brocade flowers and grasses are embroidered on the ...... Gajie is the peony and I receive it, and Ahgor is the green leaf with the mile". After a preliminary investigation, there are more than twenty ethnic minorities in China to embroidered shoes as the national wear characteristics. In the Chinese family, embroidered shoes have become the whole nation *** with the cultural wealth, embroidered shoes for the veritable "Chinese shoes".