The origin of traditional Chinese shoes
Traditional Chinese children’s shoes
are believed to have their roots in the Warring States Period,
approximately 2,600 years ago. It was then that the head of the Jin
Kingdom, an area roughly outlined by present-day Shanxi province,
ordered all the maids in his palace to embroider ten kinds of fruits
and flowers on their shoes in remembrance of the great deeds he had
performed. This practice eventually made its way to the people and it
became a tradition for mothers to make similar shoes for their
children.
Among the most common shoes made for
toddlers were "tiger head shoes," usually sewn from cotton with
tiger heads embroidered on the toes. To make them appear more vivid
and lifelike, rabbit fur would sometimes be attached to the mouth and
ears, so it would flutter in the wind like the fur of a tiger.
Chinese folklore regards tigers as "the
king of the animal world" (bǎishòu zhīwáng 百兽之王),
powerful enough to scare away evil spirits. Hence, when a child
entered the world, they would be given three pairs of
different-colored tiger head shoes. The first pair would be blue,
because "blue" (lán 蓝)
in Chinese is pronounced identically to the word for "barrier"
(拦) and refers to the idiom
of "the path-barring tiger" (lánlùhǔ 拦路虎),
symbolizing the tiger’s ability to ward off demons and vicious
animals. A second pair of shoes would be red (hóng 红),
a color representing happiness, and the final pair would be purple
(zǐ 紫) which, pronounced
the same as the character for "oneself" (zì 自),
symbolized the hope that the child would grow up in his own family
and not be taken from his parents. With these three pairs of tiger
shoes, children were guaranteed to grow up safely and happily.
In addition to tiger heads, other
designs for baby shoes also exist, each expressive of a different
wish or hope. Some of the most common patterns are pigs, butterflies,
frogs, fish and lotus flowers. In Chinese, pig (zhū 猪)
sounds similar to "dwelling" (zhù 住),
signifying a child’s successful birth and the hope of a carefree
upbringing. Butterflies symbolize love and harmony, while frogs (wā
蛙) – pronounced
identically to "baby" (wá 娃)
– are themselves symbols for children. Fish (yú 鱼)
represent abundance (yú 余),
while the lotus flower symbolizes integrity and nobility.
Much of the practice of making and
wearing traditional baby shoes has been lost, now overtaken in
popularity by sneakers and sandals manufactured by factories. Though
the custom is still maintained in some regions of China, such as
Henan and Yunnan, fewer and fewer people can remember the days when
kids ran around in handmade tiger-head or pig shoes.
Those who wish to wax nostalgic about
this vanishing Chinese way of life can visit some of the traditional
footwear workshops that still exist in Beijing:
Buyingzhai Shoe House 步瀛斋
8 Dashilan’r, Qianmen
前门大栅栏8号
www.buyingzhai.cn/doce/zxdx.htm
Nabaiqian Cotton Shoe Workshop 纳百谦布鞋
71 Gaobeidian Chinese Furniture Street, Chaoyang District
朝阳区高碑店古典家具一条街71号
Chinese children’s shoes can also be purchased at Yashow (雅秀) and Silk Street (秀水) markets.