Ancient Shoes Example: Cloud Silk Embroidered Shoes for Writing

From the perspective of cultural history, shoes are an important part of human dress culture, and in ancient times they were generally known as "footwear". Shoes to promote the reform and development of human dress, has made great achievements, it not only focuses on the practical, but also has the function of aesthetic decoration; some shoes also represent the sign of rank and etiquette norms, and profoundly reflect the good wishes of the people through the ages, has a strong cultural connotation. From the production process itself, shoes are also a kind of art, with high cultural value, historical value and artistic value, and closely related to folklore, crafts, aesthetics, archaeology and other disciplines, which is a country, a nation's material civilization and spiritual civilization. The development of Chinese shoes has a long history from scratch, from simple to complex, from coarse to fine. From ancient times to the present, there are many creations, not only colorful styles, but also fruitful results in shape, color and technique. In order to better promote the national cultural traditions, learning, inheritance and carry forward the national traditions, we explore the history of China's shoe culture, is a very meaningful thing.

During the Paleolithic Age in our country, primitive human beings captured animals with various simple stone tools. After getting the animals, they brought them to their own caves, "eat their meat and use their skin", which is the history of the "Ru Mao Drinking Blood", "eating grass and trees, clothing and animal skin" of the ape man period! In order not to be affected by external climatic conditions and ground conditions and threats, they not only make animal skin clothing to protect against the wind and cold, and know that the animal skin to protect the feet, that is, with the animal skin simply wrap the feet, to achieve the purpose of not freezing, not to be stabbed. The purpose of not being stabbed.

Anciently, the human body clothing is divided into the first coat. The upper garment. The lower garment and footwear. Footwear, that is, the ancients of shoes and socks of the general term. At that time, the social productivity is extremely low, did not invent the textile. "Women do not weave, and the skins of beasts and fowls are footwear." (Han Fei Zi? Wulan") According to expert research, human beings experienced the barefoot period, and only later were shoes invented. In colder regions, primitive man used a small strip of leather to cut into whole pieces of animal skin wrapped around the feet, is actually a kind of animal skin socks. This is the earliest "footwear", has more than tens of thousands of years of history. Used for foot wrapping, also known as "foot wrapping skin". It is presumed that it is the oldest primitive shoes, but also the original form of today's shoes.

In our country, although so far not found this "primitive shoes" in kind. But in the archaeological excavations, reflecting the ancient inhabitants of the boots and shoes with the image, for us to study the cultural history of China's ancient period, provides vivid information.

In the fall of 1973, in China's Qing Zhen Datong County Sun Jia Zhai a belong to the Majiayao culture of the tomb, unearthed a pottery of the clan period, above a person. Foot has been wearing shoes, and the tip of the shoe upward. Shoes buckle, is the most typical features of Chinese ancient shoes; historical records, Chinese shoes buckle began in the Stone Age, from the discovery of the above artifacts, the origin of shoes buckle period can be advanced. Majiayao culture belongs to the Neolithic Age, it is determined that the specific age of 5,000 or 5,800 years ago, equivalent to our country's legend in the age of Emperor Yan Di to the Yellow Emperor, that is, the primitive society to the transition period of the slave society, then, at that time, how primitive people from the "wrapped skin" and gradually transitioned to the shoes it? At that time to wear the shoes and shoes buckle is what raw materials made it? Were they leather boots or straw shoes or wooden clogs? What were the specific shapes? We are still in a state of ignorance.

The shoe is the general name for shoes since the Han Dynasty. In ancient times, shoes were called "Cui", which was a verb meaning "to trample", "to step on" or "to put on shoes", but after the shoes were called "Cui", Cui had the attribute of a noun. In ancient times, there were many kinds of caterpillars, divided by material, there were three kinds: cloth and silk, grass and kudzu, and leather armor. Crawl is made of silk, hemp, damask, silk and other fabrics. Grass kudzu shoes are made of cattail as raw material, which are woven by grinding and rubbing. Leather armor shoes are divided into raw leather and cooked leather, made of raw leather called leather tread, made of cooked leather called leather thousand.

China's ancient shoe style are shoes head up, called "warped head shoes". The Tang Dynasty's warped head crawler more to the Luo silk, pattern brocade. Grass vine, hemp kudzu and other surfaces for the surface of the shoe, the bottom of the shoe is thin, shallow, lighter and more convenient, the head of the warped into the wind head, tiger head, etc., vivid and realistic. In addition, there are heavy platform shoes, high wall shoes, hook shoes, fluorescent head shoes and so on. In addition, there are the names of heavy platform shoes, high wall shoes, hook shoes and fluorene head shoes.

Clogs, a kind of shoes with double teeth on the soles, which are mainly made of wood, are called wooden clogs. Clogs are composed of three parts: the face, the tie, and the teeth. Clogs are made up of three parts. The face of the clog is the upper, which is tied with a shoelace, or lace. The teeth are at the bottom of the clogs before and after, in a straight vertical style.

Towards the end of the Han Dynasty, women wore wooden clogs when they got married, and the colorful paintings on the clogs were very beautiful. In the Jin Dynasty, there was a kind of wooden clogs, the face, the help, the teeth are all made of whole wood, the help instead of the original system. There is another kind, its double teeth can be removed at will; it is said that this kind of clogs for the southern dynasty poet Xie Lingyun created, called Xie Gong clogs, for mountaineering travel wear, can go up the mountain to the front teeth, down the mountain to the back teeth, in order to maintain the balance of the human body.

Slippers are ancient shoes with wooden soles tied with colorful bands. Among the ancient shoes, the slipper was the most expensive. Slippers were only worn during pilgrimage and rituals, while shoes were always available. Slippers were double-soled, made of wood or waxed to prevent moisture. In the Zhou Dynasty, the king's slipper was white, black and red, with red as the top color, followed by white and black; while the queen's slipper was red, green and purple, with purple as the top color, followed by green and red; in the grand ceremonies, the king wore a red slipper, and the queen wore a purple slipper, and the material of the slipper was satin.

Boots, a kind of height above the ankle bone long shoes, originally for the northern nomads wear, mostly made of leather. Our country in three dry eight hundred years ago, there have been leather boots appeared. During the Warring States period, Zhao Wuling Wang advocated the "hu clothing riding and archery", boots began to flow into the Central Plains. In the period of North and South Dynasties, women often add the winter solstice to the stockings and boots. And boots flowed into the Central Plains as a dress package, the shape is more perfect; at this time, the beginning of the emergence of hexagonal boots (with six pieces of leather sewn together). To the Tang Dynasty, the official common boots; boots have a long tube, short tube, round head, flat head, pointy head and other styles. Early Song Dynasty shoe-making process is still used in the Tang and Five Dynasties. Later in the Song Dynasty, with black leather for its face to boots, lined with felt, boots eight inches high, civil and military officials according to their rank and color to decorate their boots side sewing roller strip. Song, Liao, Jin, Yuan period, more styles of boots. Goose head boots, cloud head boots, flower boots, jiejie mouth boots, dry boots, Ge Weng boots, Goryeo-style boots, etc., modeling is simple, the color of the boots with the clothes with.

Since the Ming Dynasty, the court began to prohibit the common people to wear boots, boots have a hierarchy. In the Qing Dynasty, men wore shoes when they wore civilian clothes, but they still needed to wear boots when they wore official clothes. The fabric of the boots was mostly black satin, and the style was square toed at the beginning, and then changed to pointed toes, but the boots matching the court dress were still square toed boots. Civilian pointed boots, rich and poor style is the same, only with a strict difference in material, the rich in spring and fall, can wear green satin boots, winter can wear green velvet boots. Poor people can only wear green cloth boots. In the officialdom, the teeth of the boots worn by senior officials, other officials wore most of the black satin square head boots; and the armed forces, the boots worn by the official is also known as the "climber", that is, lightweight short boots with thin soles.

Flag shoes, commonly known as "flowerpot bottom Tartar", is the Qing dynasty Manchu flag women wore a kind of high bottom shoes, shoes for the wooden bottom, heel in the middle. Because the Manchu women from childhood horseback riding, never wrapped feet, they are accustomed to wear this kind of shoes, especially the noble women, generally wear this kind of shoes, so called "flag shoes". Flag shoes wooden heel mounted in the middle of the sole, generally more than three inches high, the entire wooden heel with white fine cloth package, there are also outside the framed white damask or coated with white powder, commonly known as "powder bottom". Flag shoes fabric for satin, embroidered colorful patterns. With age, the height of the sole is gradually reduced, generally older or working women, more short or flat shoes, such as "boat-shaped shoes" and so on.

Three-inch golden lotus refers to both the woman's small feet, but also refers to the shoes worn by women with entangled feet.

The custom of foot-binding in Chinese history in the end in what era began, so far there is no exact method, experts are difficult to unify their views, each with its own statement.

Some scholars, based on folklore, believe that the three-inch golden lotus appeared in the Sui Dynasty. The folk tale is: the Sui Dynasty, the despotic and tyrannical emperor Sui Yangdi, through the canal to Yangzhou to play, do not want to use men, but instead of a hundred beautiful women for him to pull the fiber. A blacksmith surnamed Wu's daughter, Wu Yue Niang, was chosen, because Wu's father and daughter hated Emperor Yang very much, so they discussed and prepared to take this opportunity to assassinate Emperor Yang. For this purpose, Wu's father made a three-inch long and one-inch wide sword for his daughter. Wu Yuniang will knife wrapped in cloth under the soles of the feet, at the same time, the feet are wrapped as small as possible, and according to wrap the small feet to make a pair of shoes, the soles engraved with lotus flowers, very beautiful. Emperor Yang saw Wu Yuniang in the dragon boat, very much like, on the order of Wu Yuniang close, want to see the foot binding. Wu Yuniang excuses its feet can only let the emperor one person to appreciate, so Emperor Yang ordered the left and right to retreat. Wu yueniang and so no one around Emperor Yang, only slowly unwrap the foot cloth, suddenly drew out the lotus knife to stab Emperor Yang, Emperor Yang a flash, was stabbed in the arm. At this time, Sui Yang emperor while screaming "come to catch assassins", and then immediately drew the knife to Wu Yuniang cut. Although Wu Yuniang was not hit, but knew that the matter had been exposed, then threw herself into the river. This incident to the Sui Emperor Yang stimulated a lot, he immediately issued a decree: "women again beautiful, wrapped in the foot is not selected". At this time to the folk, people in order to remember Wu Yuniang, even encourage women to wrap up their feet, to show the memorial, foot binding custom thus came.

But the legend is a legend after all, most scholars studying shoe culture believe that according to the existing historical data, it should be in the South Tang Dynasty (AD 937-975). According to evidence, the South Tang Emperor Li Houzhu loved beauty and music, he made a lotus flower platform made of gold, six feet high, so that the courtesan Ruiniang wrapped her feet in silk into a bow, in the gold ponchos dancing on the platform.

Li Houzhu made the courtesan dancers with silk wrapped feet, so that the foot is small and curved as a crescent into a bow, and in the gold lotus dance, pirouetting in the shape of a cloud, the courtesan dancers of the small feet as well as the shoes worn by the known as the "three inches of golden lotus," thus getting its name. Since then, both inside and outside the palace are copied, the formation of women's slim enough to small, thin, pointed for beauty, for the noble folklore.

The custom of foot-binding has been practiced since the Southern Tang Dynasty until the Xinhai Revolution, but it has not been eliminated during the Republic of China, and even at the beginning of the liberation period, there were still very few areas where foot-binding was still practiced, for more than 1,000 years. China's land is vast and populous, and the three-inch golden lotus worn by women in various places and regions have formed styles with local characteristics. Generally speaking, the three-inch golden lotus is divided into two categories: the south is represented by Zhoushan, Ningbo, Shaoxing, Shengzhou in Zhejiang Province and Qianxian in Anhui Province; the north is represented by Beijing, Tianjin and Qingdao. Comparatively speaking, the three-inch golden lotus in the south is more chic and delicate, with exquisite embroidery. The three-inch golden lotus in the north is more rugged and powerful, and more square.

During the Qing Dynasty, when the custom of foot-binding was in full swing, women with foot-binding liked to wear leg bands, lotus-root coverings, and trouser sets in order to set off their three-inch golden lotuses and win the hearts of men.

Leg bands, foot-binding women used to wrap the bundle in the calf band, the material has cotton and silk, satin, etc., sophisticated in the leg band embroidery on the pattern.

Lotus root cover, there are two kinds, one is like the shape of the leg of the trouser leg, is set outside the leg of the pants; the other is a rectangular piece of cotton or satin, there is a sandwich, is rolled and tied in the ankle bone, outside the leg of the pants. The purpose of the two types of lotus root cover is to cover the deformity of the ankle bone and increase the beauty of the foot. All of them are embroidered with colorful designs.

Set of pants, the Qing Dynasty women like to wear set of pants, set on the legs to the ankle bone; set of pants on the system, when used in the waist, the purpose is to protect from the cold and increase the beauty of the feet.

In the era of the Republic of China, due to the influence of the New Culture Movement, the western shoe culture began to penetrate into China, and various kinds of mechanically produced cloth shoes, rubber shoes, rain shoes, plastic sandals, and high-heeled leather shoes and boots flowed into China; thus the Chinese shoe culture absorbed the advantages of the western shoe culture, combined with the characteristics of the Chinese nation, and moved towards the road of high-speed development.

In summary, Chinese shoe culture has a long history and distinctive national characteristics, even in contemporary times, for example, one belt of women's cloth shoes has almost become the national shoes of Chinese women, and foreign women to China's favorite purchase is one belt of women's cloth shoes. More proud of the country is: in the early 20th century, people accidentally in Liaoning Lingyuan Niheliang Hongshan culture (3500 BC) site, found a nude form of young girl red ceramic statue, but unfortunately, the head, the right foot is missing, the residual height of less than ten centimeters, but the left foot is wearing a pair of short leather boots, the characteristics of which are very obvious. This puts the history of China's shoe-making process back to more than five thousand five hundred years ago.

In addition, shoe culture experts in Xinjiang Hot Springs County, Alcatraz Grassland found a stone portrait (it is determined that about 3000 BC or so), it is 2 meters tall, round face, deep eyes, face full of mighty look, wearing a wide lapel coat. Waist girdle, feet on high leather boots. It truly reflects the primitive appearance of ancient inhabitants with boots, as well as ancient shoe culture.