Traditional Marriage Customs Related To Shoes In Chinese Shoe Culture

In Chinese traditional marriage customs, shoes are mascots, which is a symbolic folk custom due to the pair of shoes and the homonym of "shoes" and "xie". As a wedding gift; Some are necessary for getting married; Some people congratulate their newlyweds.

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　 "Big wedding shoes" embroidered shoes

The theme of embroidered shoes and embroidery patterns comes from life, and the main theme is folk culture and customs. The basic cases involved include flowers, birds, grass and insects, birds and animals, claw shaped flowers and fruits, mountains and rivers, dramatic characters, etc. The auspicious cases include Lian Sheng Guizi, Liu Kai Baizi, Double Butterflies in Love with Flowers, Dragon Flying and Phoenix Dancing, etc., implying the praises of life and a happy life. After preliminary investigation, more than 20 ethnic minorities in China regard embroidered shoes as their national wearing characteristics, and it is not excessive to call them "Chinese shoes".

The legend of "shoes of the State of Jin" spreads in Jinnan, Shanxi. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the State of Jin was originally a small country. After becoming king, the Duke Xian of Jin worked hard to expand its territory and annexed ten small states. In order to make people remember him forever, he ordered all women in the palace to have their vamps embroidered with pomegranate flowers, peach flowers, bergamot, grapes and other ten kinds of flower and fruit patterns. At the same time, he also ordered all civilian women across the country to use the "ten fruit shoes" embroidered with patterns as wedding shoes when they get married, so that generations will not forget the great achievements of the Duke Xian of the Jin Dynasty. At that time, women's embroidered shoes with this pattern were called "Shoes of Jin State". From then on, the embroidery technology of Jin State was extended to embroidery clothes and other articles with embroidered shoes.

Coincidentally, when looking for the whereabouts of embroidered shoes in ethnic minority areas, there is also a legend similar to the "Ten Fruit Shoes": Baoan people who live in Dahejia, Jishi Mountain, Gansu Province still retain the national tradition of wearing embroidered shoes. The ancient poetic art "Flower" passed down from this ethnic minority area In the middle of the song, "The green satin and the vamp are cut diagonally, and the ten brocade flowers and plants are embroidered... Ga Mei is the peony, I pick it up, and Ah Ge is the green leaf.".

　 Wedding customs related to shoes

　 Olive shoe

The young men and women of Maonan nationality, who have good feelings for each other, invite each other to the flower garden on the moonlit night to talk about their hearts and express their love, which is called "sitting night". As long as both parties are willing to tie the knot for a hundred years, they will give each other keepsakes when they are "sitting night".

Girls usually present young men with a pair of "olive shoes", that is, cloth shoes with square plaids formed by white lines on the sole. The young man usually gives the girl a "flowered bamboo hat", and mutual gifts of keepsakes represent that they have entrusted their lifelong happiness to each other.

　 Spring Festival shoes

Shoes act as keepsakes to connect the feelings of young women and men in Mulao ethnic group. Usually, Mulao girls secretly measure the size of their lovers' feet in the "slope walking" activity, sew them with fine needles and threads according to the size, steam the shoes in a steamer for more than ten minutes after they are made, take them out to dry, and give them to their lovers as a pledge when they meet them. The shoes are commonly called "shoes of the same year" because they are given to young people of the same age

???? Flower clog

The marriage customs of the Jing nationality are more interesting. After the man and the woman fell in love, the man asked the matchmaker to send a self-made love line and a colorful clog with flowers to the woman's house. The girl's family also took out a flower clog from the girl's room. If the two lovers are paired, it is a perfect match; If they are not paired, it means that they are not destined to be lovers. After matching the flower clogs, they can choose a gift box for marriage, which is commonly called "flower clogs".

Silk and linen shoes

When the Han people in some northern areas get married, the men must send silk and hemp shoes to the women's families, which means that they will never be separated. At the same time, silk and hemp shoes also include the bride wearing silk and hemp shoes on the sedan chair. With the soft and tough silk and hemp shoes, the meaning of "missing her mother" is humorous, which means that the bride returns home and never forgets her biological mother. Therefore, as a marriage gift, shoes also mean good luck and harmony.

　 Companion shoe

When people in Wuhu, Anhui, prepare a dowry for their daughter, they will give each bride and groom a pair of shoes. The local people also include the bride's shoes into the groom's shoes. When the bride gets married, she takes her shoes to her husband's house. In Hefei, it is the wedding day. When the bride enters the bridal chamber, she will exchange shoes with the groom. The groom and the bride wear each other's shoes. "The same shoes" and "together" are homophonic, which means that the wife will accompany her to pray.

???? Dancing son-in-law shoes

In the Han nationality in the south of the Yangtze River, "Stepping on the husband's shoes" is a ceremony for the bride to get off the sedan chair and enter her husband's house for the first time, that is, the bride must put on the groom's shoes when getting off the sedan chair, so it is also called "Stepping on the husband's shoes". "Shoes" sound harmonious. It is a symbol of longevity.

　 Change shoes

When the Naxi people in Lijiang hold a wedding ceremony, the man's family welcomes the bride into the house. The bride should first give her in laws and her in laws a pair of shoes. When entering the bridal chamber, the person who sent the bride to the bridegroom intentionally threw a pair of shoes to the bottom of the new bed, forcing the bridegroom to bend down to the bottom of the bed to take out the shoes, and then pull them up. These shoes are called "shoes for changing feet", which also means that husband and wife are together.

Grab bride's shoes

In the folk, there is also a saying that wearing the bride's shoes to worship the heaven and earth will bring good luck to the husband's family. Later, it gradually evolved into an activity in the new house. For example, in Huizhou, Anhui and other regions, when a girl gets married, her family will make a pair of "bridal shoes" for the newlyweds to wear when they worship heaven and earth. Before the bride pays homage to heaven and earth, the downtown people always try to get the "bride's shoes", forcing the groom to exchange shoes with cigarettes and candy, which makes everyone laugh. There are many local methods; For example, among the people in Qianxian County, people who take off shoes do not hesitate to cross mountains and mountains, rather than stay on the only way for the bride to go to her husband's house all night, so as to seize the opportunity to rob shoes.

In the folk of Xiuning County, when the bridal sedan chair entered the house of the bride and the bridegroom carried the bride out of the sedan chair, the people in the downtown deliberately pushed forward and pushed backward. When the bride was unprepared, they took off their shoes. The bridegroom has to carry the bride on his back all the time because the bride's feet are forbidden to touch the ground.

　 Take off your shoes

In Haizhou, Jiangsu Province, there is also the marriage custom of taking off shoes. When the couple enters the bridal chamber and the room deliverer quits, the groom unfastens a button for the bride, which is commonly known as "Jiehuai" (also known as "Kaihuai". It is locally known as Kaihuai when women start having children); It means to have children early. After the dissolution of pregnancy, the groom sits on the edge of the bed, and the bride takes off her shoes and socks for the groom, commonly known as "taking off her boots", to show her respect for her husband, and is willing to take care of him for life.

The bride wears tiger shoes. More interesting is the custom of wearing tiger shoes on Chongming Island. On the island, when a woman gets married, she must wear a pair of tiger shoes. It is believed that she can subdue her husband by taking advantage of the tiger's power.