Ceramic Shoes: Concentration Of Chinese Traditional Skills

　　 The legend of porcelain shoes

Ceramic shoes, as the name suggests, are made of ceramic materials, which are made of different styles of shoes. Most of them are appreciative works of art and some are of practical value.

As for the source of porcelain shoes, let's first listen to a folk story about porcelain shoes circulated in Jingdezhen, China's capital of porcelain. It is said that there is a kiln owner named "sharp pointed drill" who always thinks of ways to exploit workers. One day, he declared that "three days after fire, the kiln will be opened for one day." A 15 year old kiln worker named Zhang Xiaomao, who put a saga in the hot stove, burned his feet and burned his feet. The pointed drill not only did not give new straw shoes, but also drove him to open the kiln with a whip. At night, Zhang Xiaomao dreamed of a white haired immortal giving him a pair of porcelain shoes. Wearing porcelain shoes, the swelling and pain on the feet immediately disappeared, and when I opened the kiln, I hurried like a fly. Xiao Mao took the porcelain shoes off to the kiln workers to rotate them, so they could easily open a kiln and porcelain. The sharp drill knew this and slipped into the kiln worker's shed to steal the porcelain shoes at night. Who knows, porcelain shoes on his feet can not take off, carrying him to the kiln factory, when he ran to the fire kiln door, suddenly jumped into the kiln, in a blazing fire, in an instant, the cruel master of ashes into ashes. This mythological legend is mainly a desire for liberation among the working people in the old society in the oppressed exploitation. It has strong love and hatred, and has made a strong lash against this black hearted kiln owner. It also conveys a moving legend of the origin of ceramic shoes, but it is a legend after all. Then, where is the origin of ceramic shoes? Let's discuss this problem:

　　 Ancient painted pottery boots

In fact, the primitive inhabitants in ancient China had made ceramic shoes, but they were not used for appreciation, but for solemn ceremonies. Because of the influence of "soul theory", human beings believed that the soul still existed after death, but they wanted to go to another world and live the same life as human beings. As a result, the custom of sending funeral objects when people are buried after death is created. From the discovery of Archaeology in China, as early as in the Neolithic cultural sites, a pair of ancient painted pottery boots has been unearthed. It was excavated at the site of Xindian culture (former 1800) in Liuwan, Ledu County, Qinghai. It was 11.6 centimeters tall in the late Neolithic period, and 14.3 centimeters long in the bottom. The inside of the pottery boots was empty, and the end of the floor was very clear. These ceramic boots are folk burial objects, but we do not think the boots were created by the people at that time, but the folk Potters were modeled on the real shoes worn by the residents at that time. This makes us wonder at the artistic creativity of our people, and its humanistic value makes us understand the miniature of shoes worn by Xia Shang people.

In the Qin and Han Dynasties, there were pottery Qi tou shoes. Qi tou shoes, also known as "split top shoes", "two Qi shoes". Because of its head divergence, it has a double pointed head and a middle depression, hence its name. In the pre Qin classics, it began in the inner palace of the emperor. Women began in the Western Han Dynasty, and still existed in the Tang Dynasty, and disappeared after the Song Dynasty.

In China's Shaanxi area, a pair of ceramic bow shoes made in the southern and Northern Dynasties were beautifully shaped, which reflected the women's delight in wearing silk and silk shoes. Because the toe of the shoe is in the shape of a bow, it is known as the bow. And because the top of the shoe is often covered with flowers, insects and birds, it is also known as "flower script". Gao Yun, the Northern Wei Dynasty, "Luo Fu Xing": "feet wear flower script, ears wear bright moon beads." The origin of this system is very long. So far, the Korean people in the north and the Bai people in the South still exist.

The pottery shoes of the Sui Dynasty can be verified by the wat tou pottery excavated from the tomb of the Sui Dynasty in Bo County, Anhui. The head of the pottery shoe is tall and warped, shaped like wapboard and the top is circular. In the Tang Dynasty, the social development entered the peak period, and the production technology of ceramic shoes was further improved, especially the shape of shoes unadorned. And adopted the Tang Dynasty's tri colored production process, making a cirrus like shape on the toe of the shoe, and drawing patterns on the upper, forming a typical shoe shaping system in the Tang Dynasty, which is popular among both men and women. After the founding of the people's Republic of China, the unearthed tri colored and undecorated ceramic shoes of Tang Dynasty, which were unearthed in China, are also funeral shoes. The colors are very gorgeous, and the shoes are modeled on the women's wear of the brocade shoes, the shoes are yellow, and all kinds of convex green flowers are on the upper and toe, giving people a very pleasant impression on the whole.

In the song and Yuan Dynasties, we found the ceramic shoes of the song and Liao dynasties, and the glazed pottery heads of the Yuan Dynasty, all of which were the development of ceramic shoes. During the song and Liao dynasties, the northern nomadic peoples had frequent contacts with the Central Plains peoples. The unique silk and pointed shoes in central plains were combined with the leather shoes commonly used by nomadic people to form sharp short silk boots. In the painting of Zhang Wenzao's tomb wall of Liao Dynasty in Xuanhua, Hebei, many times, the song and Liao pointed ceramic boots are the reflection of this form. The Yuan Dynasty was established by the northern Mongolian people in the Central Plains. The Mongolian style was popular in the clothing and shoes, and gradually formed a large package of shoe tight shoes. The thick felt felt adapted to the cold weather in the north. The front toe of the shoe was favorable for the grassland and grassland to run away. The big head pottery shoe in the Yuan Dynasty is the true reflection of this kind of boot shoes. Up to now, there are still large headed cotton shoes in Central Plains.

　 Transition from funerary objects to folk craft shoes

In the two dynasties of Ming and Qing Dynasties, not only did many unearthed ceramic shoes unearthed, but also gradually moved from the funeral articles to the desk crafts for people to appreciate, and their forms varied and varied. In the development process of ceramic shoes, people get rid of the custom of being a funeral shoe, and gradually change to appreciate and practical function, forming a unique ceramic shoe with a combination of appreciation and practicality, and some even add belief. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, ceramic shoes were made into small pairs of shoes, and they were made of colored porcelain shoes with small holes for easy rope hanging. They were fasten on the waist belt or on the fan handle (Fig. eight). Because of the homonym of "shoes" and "evil", they were commonly referred to as carrying boots, which could be used as "shoes" to protect evil spirits and protect the safety of the road. In the Qing Dynasty, all kinds of celadon wash, horse and so on produced in Jingdezhen took the shape of boots and were favored by the masses.

Today, with the progress of society and the development of science and technology, the scope of modern ceramic shoes is becoming more and more extensive. From the people's clothing, food and shelter, as well as the absorption of subjects in various animal shapes, they can create highly artistic ceramic shoes. It can be described as a beautiful variety, beautiful, especially imitation leather shoes, sports shoes, women's shoes, children's shoes and so on. Some of them really reach the realm of lifelike, genuine and fake.

To sum up, we know that ceramic shoes are never made by immortals or fallen from the sky. They are the crystallization of the wisdom of the working people. They draw nourishment from their lives, and then create colorful ceramic shoes according to the different shoes worn by the people. Now, it has become a valuable collection and is popular in all countries around the world.