Manchu platform shoes

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Shoes for a Manchu noblewoman, China, Qing dynasty, mid-1800s AD, silk, wood; from the Textile Museum, George Washington University

Manchu platform shoes refers to the traditional high

shoes'), Manchu shoes,[1] which forms part of the Qizhuang, the traditional attire of the Manchu people. Depending on its styles of its, the Manchu platform shoes could be classified as gaodixie (Chinese: 高底鞋), which were high-heeled shoes, and yuanbaodi (Chinese
: 元宝底), which were typically low-heeled shoes.

The gaodixie could be further divided into the huapenxie (Chinese: 花盆鞋; pinyin: huāpénxié; lit. 'flowerpot shoes'), also known as huapendi (Chinese: 花盆底; pinyin: huāpéndǐ), huapendixie (Chinese: 花盆底鞋)[2] or commonly referred as flowerpot shoes in English,[1] and the matixie (Chinese: 馬蹄鞋; pinyin: mǎtí xié; lit. 'horsehoof shoes'), also known as matidixie (Chinese: 馬蹄底鞋),[2] which is commonly referred as horse hoof-tread shoes[1] or horse-hoof shoes[3] in English.

Construction and design

Manchu Woman's matixie; the upper region is made of fabric while the lower region is made of wood.

Materials

The lower portion of the shoe was a high platform heel which was made out of wood while the upper portion shoe was made of fabric.[3] The sole was padded with several layers of cotton which could have allowed the shoes to be worn indoor or only when there were special events.[3] The right and the left were interchangeable.[3]

Shapes

  • The huapenxie was in the shape of flowerpot.[1] The shoe had thick soles which would reduce in thickness at the toe and the heel regions.[2]
  • The matixie was horse-hoof in shape.[1] The shoes were elevated with a piece of wood with concave sides which were attached to the soles of the shoe.[2]

History

See also: Tifayifu

Making shoes out of wood has been a tradition craft by the ancestors of the Manchu.[1] According to folk stories, the thick-soled shoe first appeared when a goddess decided to keep off insects and dust when she faced a situation where she had to walk in the mud.[3] Another legend associate the creation of the platform shoes to Princess Duoluo Ganzhu who ordered her soldiers to use wooden stilts to cross the marshes; this invention allowed the soldiers to launch a surprise attack and to win their capital back.[2] Since then, Manchu women wore the high, stilt-like platform shoes.[2]

When the Manchu conquered China in the Qing dynasty, they forbade Manchu women from binding their feet like the Han Chinese women.[4] It is sometimes suggested that the Manchu platforms shoes were used to imitate the gait of the Han Chinese women with bound feet.[2] However, it is also suggested that the use of high platform shoes is not influenced by the Han Chinese but the results of the living conditions adaptation in the Northeast regions.[2]

In the early Qing dynasty, both the huapenxie and the matixie appeared.

feet') for a short duration of time (only 1 month) in order to compress the feet in a narrow, knife-like shape under the influence of the Han Chinese.[2]

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Manchu Shoes and Chromatic Plumes on the Head". en.chinaculture.org. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
  2. ^
    OCLC 1040076055.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  3. ^ a b c d e f Victoria and Albert Museum, Digital Media (2011-05-26). "Manchu horse-hoof shoes: Footwear and cultural identity". www.vam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
  4. ^ "Manchu Platform Shoes". Sarajo. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
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