What materials were ancient people's shoes made of?

In ancient times, the clothes on the human body were divided into first clothes, top clothes, bottom clothes and full clothes. Full set of clothing is the floorboard of ancient shoes and socks. At that time, social productivity was extremely low, and textiles were not invented. "Women don't knit, animals are covered with clothes." ("All done?" 6? According to experts' research, before human beings invented shoes, they went through the barefoot period. In colder regions, primitive people at that time wrapped the whole animal skin on their feet with a small thong, which was actually an animal skin sock. This is the earliest "full service", which has a history of tens of thousands of years. Because it is used for foot binding, it is also called "foot binding skin". It is inferred that it is the oldest original shoe and the original form of shoes today.

Shoes in the pre-Qin period as early as the Yangshao culture period, our people were already dead, squatting or wearing shoes. There was no obvious difference between men's and women's shoes at that time. By the Shang Dynasty, the ritual system had been initially established, and there were many kinds of shoes, including leather, cotton, cloth and grass. According to records, the wholesale of patented shoes said: "Shoes in Xia and Shang Dynasties were all made of leather." The 3000-year-old boots unearthed from Wubao Cemetery in Hami City are a good proof. Its boot length 12.7 cm and width 9.4 cm. It consists of upper, sole and waist, and is sewn with thin leather strips. The top of the boot waist is about 19.5 cm, the boot tip is upturned, and there is a copper buckle on it, the heel and the inside and outside of the boot. Shang dynasty nobles wore stilt shoes with upturned boats, while Shang dynasty warriors wore stilt shoes with thin soles. Jade people of Shang Dynasty unearthed in Anyang, Henan Province, also saw shoes tilted up. In fact, in Shang Dynasty, people had mastered the silk weaving technology skillfully, and silk products and textiles had become popular. At that time, in the aristocratic class, in addition to wearing leather shoes, Ma Xie and silk shoes were widely worn. On the basis of the ritual system of Xia and Shang Dynasties, the Zhou Dynasty further improved the ritual system and made the clothing system more complete. At that time, from the emperor to the Qing Dynasty, costumes were different, and there were also special "service" posts responsible for the implementation of costumes. As an integral part of clothing, shoe ornaments have also been included in the category of "rule by courtesy" and become an indispensable form of expression in etiquette. According to Zhou Li Tianguan, the official in charge of shoes is called "Li Ren", who is in charge of the clothing of Zhengzi and Empress, including red, black, plain and ge. In addition, there were shoes, shoes, shoes, shoes. In the Zhou Dynasty, leather shoes and leather shoes became popular. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), a pair of shoes made of leather were unearthed from Chu Tomb in Changsha, Hunan, which has been more than 2,000 years. This is the earliest existing leather shoes in China. It uses simple tanned leather as the sole and sews it by hand with leather thread. The upper consists of three leather parts: the front cover, the front tip and the rear tail. The toe cap is square. The style is strapless sleeves. Another pair of Western Zhou leather boots, unearthed in the tomb of Zahongluk in Tarim Basin, is made of full leather, with clear and beautiful shoes and wrinkled toe, and the whole shoes are carefully matched and sewn. This shows that the shoe design technology at that time has reached a very high level. In the Zhou Dynasty, there was a difference between "felt boots". "Li Zhoutian Zhang Guan Skin" contains: "* * * Its hair is sticky and needs to be saved." Felt boots, generally refers to a kind of boots made of wool felt in the cold areas of northern China, which has strong warm-keeping performance. It is light and warm to step on the ground. In order to keep out the cold, there are also unique one-legged leather boots. Boots unearthed from Subaihai Warring States Tomb in the hinterland of Turpan. The whole boot is made of leather and is in a high tube shape. It is tightly sleeved on woolen trousers and integrated with knee-length trousers, trousers and shoes, which not only has good warm-keeping effect, but also is durable and can be used for wading.

Although this kind of "primitive shoes" has not been found in China so far, there are images reflecting the boots and shoes worn by ancient residents in archaeological excavations, which provide vivid data for us to study the ancient cultural history of China.

1in the autumn of 973, a pottery of clan period was unearthed in a tomb belonging to Majiayao culture in Sunjiazhai, Datong County, Qinghai Province, China. One person wore shoes on his feet, and the tips of the shoes were upturned. The upturned shoes are one of the most typical features of ancient shoes in China. According to historical records, the skew bridge in China began in the Stone Age. From the discovery of the above-mentioned cultural relics, we can advance the origin of Xie Qiao. Majiayao culture belongs to the Neolithic Age. According to the determination, its specific age is 5000 or 5800 years ago, which is about equivalent to the legendary period from Yandi to Huangdi in China, that is, the transitional period from primitive society to slave society. So how did primitive people gradually transition from "foot binding" to shoes? What materials were the shoes and shoes worn at that time made of? Boots or sandals, clogs? What is the specific shape? We are still in a state of ignorance.

Footwear is the general term for shoes since the Han Dynasty. In ancient times, shoes were called shoes, and shoes were verbs, meaning "practicing", "stepping" or "wearing shoes", but after shoes were called shoes, shoes also had the attribute of nouns. There are many kinds of shoes in ancient times. According to the material, there are cloth shoes, kudzu shoes and leather shoes. Cloth shoes are shoes made of silk, hemp, twill and silk. Caogelu is a shoe made of cattail grass. Leather shoes can be divided into raw leather and ripe leather. Leather shoes made of raw leather are called leather upper, and those made of ripe leather are called leather thousand.

The styles of shoes in ancient China were all upturned, which was called "upturned shoes". In the Tang dynasty, most of the shoes with tops were made of silk, brocade, grass rattan and hemp. The sole is thin, the shoes are shallow and light, and the shoes are vivid and lifelike. In addition, there are names such as heavy platform shoes, high-wall shoes, hook shoes and fluorene toe shoes.

Clogs, shoes with double teeth on the soles, are mainly made of wood and are called clogs. Clogs consist of three parts: face, tie and teeth. The surface is an upper, and the upper is tied with shoelaces. Teeth are vertical at the bottom of the hole.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, women wore clogs when they got married, and the colorful paintings on them were very beautiful. In the Jin Dynasty, there was a kind of clogs, whose faces, edges and teeth were all made of a whole piece of wood, which replaced the original system. Another kind, its double teeth can be disassembled at will; According to legend, this kind of clogs was created by Xie Lingyun, a poet in the Southern Dynasties, named Xie. Wear it when hiking. You can pull out your front teeth when going up the mountain and your back teeth when going down the mountain to keep your balance.

Centipede, an ancient shoe, has a wooden negative and a colorful belt. In ancient shoes, stagnant water is the most expensive. Clothes are only for pilgrimage and sacrifice, and shoes are always available. Aceracene is double-bottomed, wooden or waxed to prevent moisture. The monarchs and kings of the Zhou Dynasty were white, black and red, and red was the upper garment, followed by white and black. The queen is red, blue and purple. Purple is the top dress, followed by green and red. In grand celebrations, the king wears red, the queen wears purple, and the purple material is satin.

Boots, a kind of long-sleeved shoes with a height above the ankle, were originally worn by northern nomads, mostly made of leather. Leather boots appeared in China more than 800 years ago. During the Warring States Period, King Wuling of Zhao advocated "riding and shooting in Hu clothes", and boots began to flow to the Central Plains. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, women often bought socks and boots on the solstice in winter. When the boots flow to the central plains as a matching dress, the shape is more perfect; At this time, Liuhe boots (made of six pieces of leather) began to appear. In the Tang dynasty, officials and ordinary people generally wore boots; There are many styles of boots, such as long tube, short tube, round head, flat head and pointed head. Shoemaking technology in the early Song Dynasty still followed the Tang and Five Dynasties. In the late Song Dynasty, black leather was used as the surface, and the boots were lined with felt. The boots are eight inches high, and the civil and military officials decorate them with sewing rollers according to their grades. During the Song, Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties, there were many styles of boots, including goose head boots, cloud head boots, flower boots, open boots, dry boots, leather boots and Korean boots. The shape is simple and matches the color of the clothes.

Since the Ming dynasty, the imperial court began to ban ordinary people from wearing boots, and there was a hierarchy in wearing boots. In Qing dynasty, men mainly wore shoes when they wore casual clothes, but they still needed boots when they wore official clothes. The fabric of boots is mostly black satin, and the style is square at first, and then changed to pointed, but the boots with royal dresses are still square boots. Folk pointed boots, the styles of the rich and the poor are the same, but the materials used are strictly different. Rich people can wear blue satin boots in spring and autumn and blue velvet boots in winter. The poor can only wear blue cloth boots. In officialdom, gap boots are worn by senior officials, while most other officials wear black satin square boots; Boots for martial arts and business are also called "Parthenocissus", that is, light short-sleeved thin-soled boots.

Flag shoes, commonly known as "Tatar at the bottom of flowerpot", are a kind of high-top shoes worn by Manchu flag women in Qing Dynasty. This kind of shoe has a wooden sole and a heel in the middle. Because Manchu women have been riding horses since childhood and never bound their feet, they are used to wearing this kind of shoes, especially aristocratic women, so they are called "flag shoes". The wooden heel of the flag shoe is embedded in the middle of the sole, which is generally more than three inches high. The whole wooden heel is wrapped in white fine cloth, and there are also white silk or white powder, commonly known as "foundation". The fabric of flag shoes is satin embroidered with colorful patterns. With the increase of age, the height of the sole gradually decreases. Generally, elderly or professional women wear slightly shorter or flat shoes, such as "boat-shaped high-heeled shoes".

Three-inch golden lotus refers not only to women's feet, but also to shoes worn by women who bind their feet.

When did the custom of foot binding begin in the history of China? There is no exact statement so far, and experts have different opinions.

According to folklore, some scholars believe that the three-inch golden lotus appeared in the Sui Dynasty. According to folklore, in the Sui Dynasty, Yang Di, a dissolute and heartless bad king, went to Yangzhou to play through the canal. Instead of using a man, he used hundreds of beautiful women to pull the fiber for him. The blacksmith Wu's daughter was chosen. Because Wu's father and daughter hated Yang Di very much, they decided to take this opportunity to assassinate Yang Di. To this end, Wu Fu specially made a Penghua knife three inches long and one inch wide for his daughter. Wu Yueniang wrapped the knife under his feet with cloth, and at the same time wrapped his feet as small as possible. He made a pair of shoes according to his little feet, and the soles were engraved with lotus flowers, which were very beautiful. After seeing Wu Yueniang on the dragon boat, Emperor Yang Di liked it very much, so he summoned Wu Yueniang to approach him and wanted to see foot binding. Wu Yueniang used the excuse that only the emperor appreciated his show, so the emperor of Yang Di told him to step down. When Emperor Yang Di was alone, such as Wu Yueniang, he slowly untied his feet, suddenly pulled out a lotus knife and stabbed Emperor Yang Di. Emperor Yang Di dodged and was stabbed in the arm. At this time, Yang Di shouted "Somebody catch the assassin" and immediately drew his sword and cut it at Wu Yueniang. Although Wu Yueniang was not cut down, he knew he was exposed, so he jumped into the river. This incident gave Yang Di a great stimulus, and he immediately issued an imperial edict: "No matter how beautiful a woman is, she will not choose foot-binding." At this time, after it spread to the people, in order to commemorate Wu Yueniang, women were encouraged to wrap their feet as a souvenir, and the custom of foot binding came from this.

However, legends are legends after all. Most scholars who study shoe culture believe that according to the existing historical data, it should be in the Southern Tang Dynasty (937-975 AD). According to textual research, Li Houzhu, Emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, loved beauty and music. He made a six-foot-high lotus platform out of gold, and let the maid-in-waiting Ruiniang dance on the platform, with silk tied around her feet in an arch shape.

Li Houzhu asked the ladies-in-waiting dancers to tie their feet with silks and satins, so that their feet were slightly bent into a crescent-shaped bow and danced on the golden lotus platform, just like a lingyun. Maid-in-waiting dancers' feet and shoes are called "three-inch golden lotus", hence the name. Both inside and outside the harem followed suit, forming a folk custom that women are small, thin, beautiful and expensive.

The custom of foot-binding was followed from the Southern Tang Dynasty to the Revolution of 1911, but it was not eliminated in the Republic of China. Even in the early days of liberation, there were few areas where the custom of foot-binding existed, which lasted for more than 1000 years. China has a vast territory and a large population, and the three-inch golden lotus worn by women in various regions has formed a style with local characteristics. Generally speaking, three-inch golden lotus falls into two categories: north and south, and the south is represented by Zhoushan, Ningbo, Shaoxing, Shengzhou and Ganxian, Anhui. The north is represented by Beijing, Tianjin and Qingdao. Relatively speaking, the three-inch golden lotus in the south is unique and exquisite, and its embroidery is exquisite. The three-inch golden lotus in the north is rough, powerful and generous.

In the Qing Dynasty, when the custom of foot-binding was at its peak, in order to set off its three-inch golden lotus and win the favor of men, foot-binding women also liked to wear leg straps, lotus covers and trousers.

Leg strap refers to the strap used by women who bind their feet to tie their calves. It is made of cotton, silk, satin, etc. , and carefully embroidered with patterns.

Lotus sleeves are divided into two types, one is shaped like a leg tube of a trouser leg and is sleeved outside the trouser leg; The other is rectangular cotton cloth or satin, with a clip, which is rolled on the upper part of the ankle and outside the trouser legs. The purpose of two kinds of lotus covers is to cover the deformity of ankle bones and increase the aesthetic feeling of feet. The lotus cover is embroidered with colorful patterns.

Pants, women in Qing dynasty like to wear pants, which cover their legs to their ankles; Pants are tied around the waist to keep out the cold and increase the aesthetic feeling of feet.

In the Republic of China, due to the influence of the New Culture Movement, western shoe culture began to infiltrate into China, and all kinds of cloth shoes, rubber shoes, rain boots, plastic sandals, high heels and machine-made boots flowed into China. So far, China shoe culture has absorbed the advantages of western shoe culture, combined with the characteristics of the Chinese nation, and moved towards the road of rapid development.

To sum up, China's shoe culture has a long history and distinctive national characteristics, even in contemporary times. For example, women's cloth shoes in this area have almost become the national shoes of women in China, and foreign women like to buy them in China. What makes China people even more proud is that at the beginning of the 20th century, a naked red pottery girl was accidentally discovered at the Hongshan Culture site of Niuheliang in Lingyuan, Liaoning (3500 BC). Unfortunately, the head and right foot are missing, and the residual height is less than 10 cm. However, the left foot is wearing a pair of booties, and the characteristics are very obvious. This traces the history of shoemaking technology in China back to more than 5,500 years ago.