Straw sandals have existed from ancient times up until today. There are many kinds of straw sandals.

Etiquette

The ancient Chinese had many rules of etiquette within their daily lives, which included their footwear. The rules of the Zhou Dynasty (1100–256 BC) stipulated that people should take off their shoes before entering the house, that shoes and socks should be removed at banquets, and that ministers meeting with the emperor should also take off both shoes and socks. However, bare feet were a taboo on occasions of ceremonial worship.

In ancient China, different shoes were worn to suit particular occasions. Wedding shoes were either pink or red, and embroidered with auspicious bird and floral patterns. In the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), brides wore wooden sandals painted with floral patterns and tied with five colorful silk straps, and Manchurian brides of the Qing Dynasty wore blue cloth shoes embroidered with the red double “happiness” characters.

Shoes for the deceased were known as “Longevity Shoes,” relating to their future eternal wear in the afterlife. Between 206 BC and 420 AD, upon their death, all emperors wore jade shoes. In the Qing Dynasty, when an emperor died, all his shoes were burned. When Emperor Guangxu (1875–1909) died, 104 pairs of his shoes were cremated. For ordinary people, Longevity Shoes came in blue, black or brown for men, while women wore brightly colored embroidered shoes. The soles would be embroidered with the pattern of a lotus flower and a ladder, symbolizing the ascent of the departed to heaven. However, older people who really were celebrating their longevity and hoping for happy returns wore “Happy-Character” shoes — shoes embroidered with the Chinese character meaning “happiness.”

In feudal China, the social status of people could be perceived from the shoes they wore. In the Southern Dynasty (420–589), ordinary people were permitted to wear straw or coarse-fiber cloth shoes colored in blue, green or white only, while nobles wore leather and silk shoes. The Western Jin (265–317) ruler, in his distaste for merchants, and wishing them to be immediately distinguishable, decreed that their footwear should comprise one black and one white shoe. The Qing Dynasty stipulated that bright yellow footwear was reserved solely for the emperor, golden yellow shoes were for nobles, and those of an apricot-yellow shade were for the common people.

The changes in Chinese shoe culture reflect its close connection with the natural and geographical conditions of China, and also manifest social, economic and cultural changes, as well as the likes and dislikes of rulers and the common people of different periods.