We spend most of our waking lives in shoes, and from them we may learn something about our culture, our history, and ourselves.

Every shoe tells a story. More than footwear in ancient China, shoes spoke of status, gender, ethnicity, and even politics. Last, but far from least, they can be stylish.

Feet protectors

Ancient Chinese distinguished the main items of dress as "upper clothing," "lower clothing," and "foot clothing." "Foot clothing" referred to both shoes and socks. In the ancient script engraved on bone and tortoise shell the Chinese character for shoes and socks depicts a whole animal hide that has been trimmed and stretched out. This would indicate that at the time written Chinese was being formulated, socks and shoes were both related to leather. The ancients would protect their feet by cutting out pieces of animal hide, wrapping them around their feet, and securing them with leather thongs. According to archaeologists, this kind of foot wrapping first appeared in the Old Stone Age.

Leather shoes

Later, in the process of making footwear people learned to use bone needles, to dry and hammer animal tendons thin enough to use as thread, to dye animal hides with animal fats and plant juices, and to rub the hides with their hands to make them soft. This practice formed the basis of the method through which shoes would later be made.

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