Chinese Shoe Culture Museum Tells You About Chinese Shoe Culture

Mandarin duck shoes, palace dragon shoes Thousand ply sole shoes As well as the "strap on shoes" dedicated to cheating in scientific research, more than 1000 kinds of shoes with different forms come together. Located in the Ancient Culture Street, the city's first museum displaying Chinese traditional shoe culture—— Chinese shoe culture museum.

Show more than 1000 shoes

As the city's first stage to show shoe culture, "Chinese shoe culture museum ”It was prepared by Laomeihua Shoes Store, and the exhibition arrangement has been basically completed. The museum covers an area of more than 800 square meters and gathers more than 1000 kinds of shoes, including boat shaped shoes, thousand ply soled shoes, cloud head thick faced wooden soled shoes, etc. There are both ancient relics and late imitations. Inside the wall of the inside of the showcase, the origin, use and folk customs of various footwear were introduced in detail. You can also experience the scene of shoe making, shoe selling and even foot binding in the old days.

Tracing the evolution of shoe industry in 5000 years

The museum is divided into six parts, including the history of shoes, folk customs of shoes, categories of shoes, three inch lotus theme, boutique display and special scenes. "The history of shoes can be traced back to ancient times. In our historical exhibition area, we have covered all kinds of shoes from ancient times to the new China," said Zhong Mantian, the curator. At the venue, the reporter saw that there were more than a dozen pairs of shoes, woven shoes, wooden soled shoes and so on on display at the booths in various stages from ancient times, the Shang and Zhou Dynasties and the Warring States, the Qin and Han Dynasties and the Three Kingdoms, the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Republic of China to the founding of New China. Not only that, but also a special Tianjin exhibition area.

Learn ancient customs while watching shoes

On the other side of the aisle is the "folk custom of shoes" part. Life, death, marriage, funeral, and ancestor worship are all inseparable from shoe products. In ancient times, people wore different shoes at different stages of life and in different places of communication, with different intentions, and different shoe styles. Tiger head shoes worshipped by tigers, twin son shoes for children, farming shoes, longevity shoes, all kinds of strange things. "This part is related to culture and etiquette. You can not only see the objects, but also understand the thinking consciousness and customs of ancient people through text introduction," said Zhong, the curator.

"Three inch Golden Lotus" are different

"Many young people may have only heard about the three inch golden lotus shoes, but they did not have a deep understanding of them. We specially arranged this topic when we arranged the exhibition." Zhong, the curator, told reporters that in the museum, the historical background, production materials, accessories and different styles of the three inch golden lotus shoes were displayed one by one. The three inch golden lotus shoes do not exist alone, but are equipped with many accessories, mainly including silver and silk ornaments and metal ornaments, such as leg straps and foot rings. The three inch Jinlian shoes in different regions are also different. The museum gathers the styles of 28 provinces and cities, with different sizes, colors and designs. Compared with the current standardized production, it really has a unique charm.

"Cheating Shoes" Born in Ancient Imperial Examination

Do you know that there were "cheating shoes" in the ancient imperial examinations? You can see it with your own eyes in the museum. In the boutique display part, a pair of black cloth shoes attracted the attention of the reporter. Different from ordinary shoes, its sole presents a concave square, which looks only a few square centimeters. "This is used for cheating in the imperial examination, called 'shoelace'. The examinee puts the pocket version of the examination model into the depression, and then covers the insole. It is not easy to be found during the inspection, so the model can be taken into the examination room." The staff explained. On the other hand, seven high-quality shoes, such as Jietian Shoes and Palace Dragon Shoes, which are close to heaven, are presented one by one. In the special scene part, the real scene of the city's shoe stores during the Qing Dynasty, the store fronts opened by Lao Meihua in Beijing, the hundred shoe wall with 100 pairs of shoes on display, and even the houses where people bind feet for women are all displayed one by one. In a small house, a dozen items such as foot binding chairs, golden lotus splints, foot wrapping cloth, golden lotus irons, etc. were placed on the narrow bed, making the whole house look like a "torture chamber".

Restore ancient shoemaking technology

Of course, in addition to these six parts, visitors can also experience the ancient shoemaking technology in specific areas of the museum. With a long table, a light, scissors, wooden clips, soles, rulers and other tools, dexterous working people make shoes for a living. It is hard to see such a scene when you look around on the broad street and the modern atmosphere is coming. Sit down quietly in the museum, fiddle with those ancient shoes making objects, and feel the scene at that time, which has a special charm. "As an important shoe industry base in northern China in history, Tianjin has played an irreplaceable role in promoting the development of shoe culture. Now we have also established a museum to promote shoe culture, so that more people can understand the history of the Chinese nation's shoe industry, guide and promote more people to understand shoe culture through physical display and historical description." Curator Zhong expressed affectionately.