Why do ancient shoes appear warped?

Why do ancient shoes appear warped?
The toe is upturned, which is the most typical feature of ancient Chinese shoes. However, looking at the field of shoe history in the world, we are surprised to find that shoe warping is a common feature of ancient shoes all over the world.
According to history, my country's shoe warping began in the pre-Qin period. In fact, the origin of shoe warps can be advanced. On the pottery of the clan period unearthed in Qinghai, there is a picture of a person with not only shoes on his feet, but also the toes of the shoes are upturned. This should be regarded as the earliest image material of shoe warps in my country.
Afterwards, during the twelfth excavation of the Yin Ruins in 1935, a stone carving was found in the tomb HPKM1217 in the northwest hill of Houjiazhuang. The historians believe that this is the attire of some people in the Shang Dynasty, which shows that the shoes are very common.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, great attention was paid to the forward turning of the head, and there were special records. "Funeral Rituals of Rituals" says: "Steam knots in the attachment, even Xuan." Xuan is the decoration on the toe cap in ancient times, with holes for wearing and tying shoelaces.
It was not until the Han Dynasty that there was a difference in Lutouxuan, which was called different shoes. Tombs with double prongs and cocked heads were unearthed from Mawangdui Gonghao Tomb in Changsha, Hunan Province and from Tomb No. 168 Fenghuang Mountain in Jiangling, Hubei Province.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the shoes were rich in decorations and styles, which were mainly reflected on the shoes. For example: Jin has Fengtou shoes and Juyun shoes, Liang has Fenzhao shoes, Lifeng shoes, and Wengtou shoes, Chen has Yuhua Feitou shoes, and Yongjia in the Western Jin Dynasty has dove head shoes. Among them, Fengtou, Lifeng and Yuhuafeitou shoes are worn by women, while others are generally worn by men.
At the same time, women's shoes were also multi-lobed, and the toe caps were generally very high.
A pair of pottery shoes were unearthed in Wangwo's tomb, which was relocated in the 20th year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign (600 AD), and the shoes were also in a wishful shape.
Silk paintings of the Tang Dynasty unearthed in Astana, Turpan, Xinjiang, show women wearing high-headed and colorful shoes. The difference between the shoes of women in the second generation of Tang Dynasty is mainly on the toe cap, which is either round, square, or pointed, or divided into several petals, or increased to several layers, but they are all in the form of high warping.
This kind of shoe decoration can be found in the poetry of Tang Dynasty. For example, Wang Ya's poem said: "The head of the cloud steps on the shoes of the palace". Yuan Zhen's poem said: "Golden heavy platform shoes." Ning Ci said: "Congtou shoes are red and thin.
The colorful shoe warps of the Tang Dynasty have left many real objects for future generations. For example: a pair of brocade shoes with high heads unearthed in Turpan, with a variant Baoxiang flower brocade for the side, a red-bottomed flower-and-bird brocade for the front, and a six-color striped flower-and-bird brocade for the lining, which is extremely gorgeous.
In ancient times, this kind of cloud island with high-toed shoes was made in this way: white cloth was used as the shoe, green cloth was used as the height, and the upper of the cloud head was pulled up. February meaning.
The pointy-footed shoes that started in the Five Dynasties, namely the "three-inch golden lotus", came into being in the Song Dynasty. The female statues in the "Nv Xiao Jing Tu" painted by the Song people are such red pointed shoes.
The tombs of the Southern Song Dynasty even unearthed silver shoes with pointed feet as high as seven or eight centimeters.
Influenced by the clothing of the Yuan Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty, boots were further developed. However, because the Ming system strictly stipulated the grades of wearing shoes, the general natives still mainly wore shoes, and the improvement of their shoemaking skills was still marked by the warping of shoes. A pair of men’s shoes with yellow satin tops on a white cloth bottom with cloud head and wishful patterns were unearthed from the joint tomb of Wang Xijue and his wife in the 41st year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1613 AD) in Huqiu Township, suburb of Suzhou.
In the novel "Journey to the West", there are also many descriptions of shoe names such as cloud-toed shoes and other Ming Dynasty shoe decorations. Such as: "Majing Ge Weiyun head shoes", "Buyun shoes", '' Yunjian Fengtou shoes", "Cloud shoes are piled up beautifully", "Cloud shoes are embellished with yellow brown", "Yuntou embroidered mouth has no excellent shoes", And "embroidered shoes slightly exposed double hook phoenix" and so on. Usually, the novel is a reflection of social life. This tells us from another angle that the shoes in the Ming Dynasty were also very colorful.
Regarding the production method of the cloud-toed shoes, there are also special introductions in the works of the Ming Dynasty: use two wires and one wire, about 43 to 47 cm long, and make a compromise between them. Take the lead and divide it into two. Repeat the rest of the strips, cross on the shoe surface, divide the two ends, and decorate the two edges of the shoe mouth, which is gorgeous.
After the Qing Dynasty, women generally wore high-soled shoes, ''Golden Lotus'' and round-toed round-toe shoes. Except for boots, men wore cloth shoes of the same style as they are now. Therefore, a new pattern of "flat-toed shoes" was gradually formed in the shoe decorations of the Qing Dynasty. Only the boots and shoes of emperors and nobles had a slightly rolled-up front end of the sole, and there was no obvious shoe warping state.
After the Qing Dynasty, the shoe decorations of the ethnic minorities in the southwest and northwest, Mongolian, Korean and other ethnic groups still retained a strong color of shoe warping. So far, the embroidered shoes of these regions and ethnic groups, traditional Mongolian boots and hook-back shoes of the Korean ethnic group are all decorated with raised shoes.