Chinese Foot-binding Culture Museum Collections-72 Shoes for Four Seasons 14

It was forbidding for women to sleep with barefoot. Therefore, women had to wear shoes even when they were sleeping. Besides, sleeping shoes also function as “the symbol for sex”. Wedding shoes are almost red and prepared by mothers for their daughters at the wedding night. Overshoes are easy to wear. If you are in the room, you just need to wear the inside part and add the outside part when you go outdoors. Coffin shoes were prepared by the elderly people and they wore them when they died. The shoes were embroidered with propitious cloud, lotus, cloud ladder, meaning good luck. Children's Shoes were embroidered with zodiacs. “Every Step a Lotus” Shoes were worn by dancing kabuki. You will find a small drawer in the shoe heel with perfume powder inside and lotus pattern at the bottom of the heel. When dance, the shoes will leave a lotus on the ground with fragrance, which is the reason of the shoe name. High boots were worn by rich family only in the past. First of all, the color of the silk boots is yellow which is for royal family use only in Ming and Qing dynasties. Later, it was gradually accepted that official family and rich people use the color yellow. Besides, the boots are embroidered peony which is a symbol of rich and dignity.