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Cultural Context

education

History Of Use

Such straw shoes were worn by workers and other lower-class people, both men and women, as well as by poor men of the more educated class such as poor scholars walking to the capital to take the imperial examinations. Men going on long journeys carried several pairs, as they broke during use. Socks were not worn underneath. Women made the rice straw string and sold it, but the shoes were normally made by male specialists. Sometimes they were made at home by people who had the skill.

Description

Pair of light brown open-work shoes woven of straw. Soles are weft-faced, woven in four rows across the shoes with a decorative band under the arch consisting of two rows of shiny lighter-coloured material with a purple row between them. The heels are raised to a point ending in a single vertical element attached to a band extending around from the heel to the sides, where it is attached to a vertical element on each sides. The heel piece and band are wrapped in smooth, shiny plant fibre. The sides from the midpoint to the front consist of vertical twined strings wrapped in a dull brown material, all attached to the sole and to a band at the top which is wrapped in narrower strips of the same shiny yellow plant material. There is an opening at the centre front.