During the Neolithic ages, the Chinese ancients used to make shoes with grass, hemps, and the vine roots. It is interesting for people waiting to learn Chinese in China that the Chinese Shoes could be classified into three types, namely the grass shoes, the cloth shoes, and the leather shoes according to its raw materials, among which the second type refers to the ones made of hemp fiber, silk, Damask silk, brocades and so on.
During the Han Dynasty(206 A.D.-23 B.C.), the toe cap of the cloth shoes were usually bifurcate, and with the soles made of hemp fibers, which are called double-pointed shoes. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties (220B.C-316 B.C.), it is noteworthy for people to study Chinese in China that there were double beasts kneaded in the front of the toe caps, which are elegant in style and harmonious in coloring.
People about to travel around the world and study Mandarin in China will discover that during the Northern Qi Dynasty (550B.C-577B.C), people from all social status ranging from the emperor to the common people enjoyed to wear the clogs with wooden teeth, which is made up of three parts.
The style of Chinese Shoes of the Song Dynasty (960B.C.-1297B.C) needs to be discovered by people to learn Chinese in China, most of the men wore the small-headed leather shoes during the Song Dynasty, while women used to wear rounded, flat or pointed headed shoes, which are also embroidered with flower and bird motifs on them.
During the Ming Dynasty (1368B.C.-1644B.C), it is true for people planning to study Chinese in China that most of the men’s shoes were thick and solid, with a great variety of styles and materials, but most of the people in the north wore the diamond-patterned shoes, while the people in the north used to wear brown linen shoes.
During the Qing Dynasty (1644B.C-1911B.C), the men’s shoes were mainly led by the pointed shoes, which were made of brocade during summer and autumn, while made of silk fabrics during the winters. It is noteworthy that the Chinese Shoes of the Qing were also different in mono beams and twin beams, with upper part of the shoe embroidered with tattooing or the scepter-shaped mascot toe caps. Readers who are going to study Mandarin in China can also form your own understanding of Chinese shoes by yourself.
The women’s shoe wares of the Qing Dynasty were quite distinctive to give the readers who are going to study Mandarin in China a direct image of Chinese shoes, which were usually attached with a 1-5 inch high wooden sole, with a broad upper part and a circular lower part, it was also called “hoof sole” due to its resemblance with that of the hoofs of the horses.
Readers who are going to learn Chinese in China must be quite interested about the specific details about the vamps of the women’s shoes of the Qing Dynasty, well, they were usually made of brocade, with five-colored embroideries, some noble families also decorate the vamps with all kinds of jewelries.
Which helps more in arousing the interests of friends to study Chinese in China is the origin of high-heels, some people regards them to be originated from China, since during the Five Dynasties period, there were high-heeled clogs, what’s more , the ancient Qi shoes of the Man nationality sometimes contain a sole higher than five inches measured from the centre.
As is known to people who are interested in Chinese shoes and are about to study Mandarin in China that the boots were originally wore by Chinese nomadic tribes, which also enjoys a great variety of styles, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420B.C-581B.C), the boots were gaining popularity during the northern China, as well as in some parts of South.
To the amazement of people who want to study Chinese in China, the boots were commonly used during the Tang Dynasty (618B.C-907B.C), and there were no women’s boots until the Song Dynasty (1297B.C-1368B.C), the Korean type boots were quite popular during the Yuan Dynasty. The men in the Qing Dynasty wore boots only to match the official’s costumes.
Then here comes the question for people to learn Chinese in China that when was the exact date of the origin of the Chinese traditional foot binding, the folklorists had regarded the origin of the Chinese foot binding was from the Southern Tang Dynasty, and that type of shoes were referred to as “three-inch lotus shoes”.