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Shoes, Boots and Sandals have always been part of our dress code and it is often said that if you want to discover the character of an individual, you just need to look at their shoes and you then know everything about them.

The importance of shoes, boots and sandals has changed radically since their invention, when they were essentially only worn to protect the feet. But shoes, boots and sandals have now become a fashion item that determines our social status.

Shoes, Boots and Sandals

Ancient shoes were classified into three types in terms of material, i.e. grass, cloth and leather. Cloth shoes refer to shoes made with hemp fiber, damask silk, brocade and so on. In the Han Dynasty (206BC-23AD), the toe cap of cloth shoe was usually biforked, and the tread was made with linen thread. Such a shoe was called “Shuangjian Qiaotou Fanglü (square shoe with double tips and a rising head). In the Wei and Jin Dynasties (220-316), the front tip of a shoe was usually decorated with a double-beast pattern. The color matching was harmonious, and the whole shoe looked very graceful.

In the Song Dynasty (960-1297), most men wore leather shoes with a small toe, and women usually wore shoes with a round toe, flat toe or rising toe, sometimes decorated with various patterns such as flower or bird.

In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Men’s Shoes usually stressed thickness and strength, and the materials and fashions were varied. In the period from the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) to the Ming Dynasty, a kind of female cloth shoes was popular, which was characterized by a high rising toe and a flat and thick tread. It made its wearers especially slim.

Shoes, Boots and Sandals

In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), men’s shoes were mostly pointed-toe ones, whose materials were satin in summer and autumn, and lint in winter. The tread might be thick or thin, the instep might be single-ridged or double-ridged, and the upper might have embroidery, or there was a pattern of cirrus clouds at the toe.

Opinions vary about the origin of high-heeled shoes. It is said to originate from China. There were already high-heeled wooden sandals as early as the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280).

Boots, used to be worn by the nomadic nationalities in north China, are also called “ridding boots” and “high boots”. There are many kinds of boots: Hanxue (dry land boots), Huaxue (colored boots), leather boots, felt boots, unlined boots, cotton boots, Yuntouxue (boots with cloud patterns at the toe), Edingxue (boots with a goose-shaped toe) and so on.

Shoes, Boots and Sandals

In the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-581), boots were popular in the north, and even spread to the south. In the Tang Dynasty (618-907), boots were worn by both officials and common people. In the Song Dynasty, boots for females began to appear. In the Yuan Dynasty, Korean-style boots prevailed. In the Ming Dynasty, although the court forbad common people to wear boots, there were still many short boots, which looked like both shoes and boots. Men in the Qing Dynasty usually wore shoes, and only wore boots to match official uniforms. Materials of boots mostly were satin, lint, cloth and leather. Chaoxue (boots for the court) had a square toe, but boots for common people had pointed toes.

In China, sandals evolved from slippers. Slippers, called “Jixie” in ancient times, originated in the Han Dynasty (206BC-23AD). Subsequently, hemp sandals, cloth sandals and leather sandals appeared one after another. The ancient people embroidered some auspicious patterns, such as dragon and phoenix, etc., on their sandals.

Some even decorated their shoes, boots and sandals with jewels.