Chapter 18 Section 5 Shoes

The shoes in this period are roughly the same as those in Qin and Han Dynasties.But the material is more exquisite, the production is more sophisticated, and the shape is also particularly rich.One of its characteristics is to increase the literary beauty.That is, either embroider colorful patterns on the upper of the shoe, or cut the gold foil into a pattern, paste or sew it on the upper of the shoe.As the poets of the Southern Dynasties chanted in "Song of Water in the River": "There are twelve rows of gold hairpins on the head, and five pieces of silk on the feet." It is bright and beautiful.Another feature is that there are various forms of shoes.It can be made into a round head, a square head, a bifurcated head, or a wat head.Another feature is the use of a thick bottom.High-soled shoes "heavy platform shoes" made of wood blocks or multi-layer cloth and leather stitched appeared.At that time, there were also regulations on the color of shoes: soldiers and workers used green, blue, and white; servants and servants used red and blue.Because it is related to taking medicine, "after taking the medicine, because the skin is easy to wear and it is inconvenient to wear shoes, so you don't wear shoes and socks and wear clogs"; Wearing clogs is also very popular.There are also special iron clogs for climbing a city and wooden clogs with movable teeth for mountain climbing.The latter is the "Xie Gongclog", which was said to have been created by the famous poet Xie Lingyun in the Southern Dynasties.According to the "Book of Songs Xie Lingyun Biography", Xie Lingyun, who was born in a great aristocrat, was devoted to the mountains and rivers all day long because of his political frustration.He often wears clogs to climb mountains. It is very convenient to go up the mountain to remove the front teeth and go down the mountain to remove the back teeth. "Wear Xie Gong clogs and climb the Qingyun ladder. You can see the sea and the sun on the half wall, and you can hear the chicken in the sky." Li Bai's poem "Sleepwalking Tianmu Yin Liu Farewell" mentioned this kind of movable tooth clogs.