When it comes to traditional Japanese shoes, the first thing that comes to mind is clogs, which are a type of shoe that can almost represent Japanese culture. When we talk about Japanese women, the image of a beautiful woman holding an oil-paper umbrella, wearing a kimono, and walking slowly on a wooden corridor with wooden clogs comes to mind.
Nowadays, clogs have not completely disappeared from Japanese life. When we travel to Japan and walk on the streets and alleys of Japan, we can often see the feet of women wearing kimonos. Paired with a pair of tall clogs, it looks both elegant and charming.
Under Japan’s cultural export, many Chinese people think that clogs are a Japanese invention. But in fact, clogs originally came from China, and they are still one of the traditional costumes of ethnic minorities.
Clogs were originally invented to be worn by aristocratic women in the palace. However, in the eyes of ancient Chinese, this kind of clogs not only looked very bulky, but also very inconvenient to walk, so they soon became popular. It was abandoned by mainstream aesthetics.
However, the Japanese like this kind of shoes very much and have promoted it to the extent that when the world thinks of clogs, they will think of the Japanese. It has even become an important symbol of Yamato national costume culture.
What makes people wonder is why do Japanese people like clogs, a shoe that seems inconvenient for walking?
Clogs, derived from the Chinese word "屦", refers to the shoes people wear on their feet, and clogs, as the name suggests, are shoes made of wood. We have seen that Japanese clogs are actually very similar to the now popular "flip-flops", except that the bottom of the clogs is made of wooden boards. The earliest records of "clogs" in my country can be traced back thousands of years ago.
Clogs have appeared in Chinese records very early. As early as "Jijiupian", there was a saying that "the clogs use wood as their base and use two teeth to trample on the mud". Translation Modern literature says that if you nail two teeth on the bottom of a shoe with a wooden base, you can walk in the mud. This is describing our current clogs.
There is more than one ancient book that mentions similar things. "Book of Jin·Xuan Emperor" also records the story of soldiers wearing clogs to fight: There are many thorns on the battlefield in the Guanzhong area, and people can't do anything about it. passed directly. So the emperor at that time came up with a way to have two thousand soldiers wear "soft-made flat-soled clogs and march forward" and successfully won the battle.
The supernatural novel "Sou Shen Ji" which has been circulated since the Eastern Jin Dynasty also has a description of clogs:
This sentence tells the difference between men's clogs and women's clogs. Women generally wear clogs. Japanese clogs have round heads, while men usually wear square heads. Coincidentally, in Japanese culture, most people also believe that women wearing round heads are orthodox. If it is not a coincidence, it is another ironclad proof that Japanese clogs come from China.
Although there are many records of clogs in the history of our country, the most well-known is a sentence in the middle school text "Sleepwalking Tianmu's Song of Farewell":
In this poem by Li Bai, Xie Gong clogs are a kind of wooden shoes worn by Xie Lingyun, a writer in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. According to historical records, this kind of shoe also has a wooden sole with two wooden teeth on the sole, which is very convenient when walking on mountain roads.
The Eastern Jin Dynasty has a history of more than 2,000 years, which is enough to show that clogs were also born in our country for more than 2,000 years, which completely refutes the idea that clogs were invented by the Japanese.
After all, as we all know, Japan two thousand years ago was still in the Jomon Age, which was the late Stone Age, and it was impossible to invent such shoes.
In the court of the Han Dynasty, clogs were still very common shoes, but by the Song Dynasty, clogs gradually disappeared from our history. It is difficult to find them either in poetry or ancient prose. traces.
Before the earliest wooden clogs were unearthed in my country, most people in Japan did not recognize it, even though there were many documented records. In their view, clogs are their traditional clothing, so naturally they invented them.
But in June 1984, the real proof appeared. The earliest wooden clogs in the world were unearthed from the tomb of Zhu Ran, a famous general of the Wu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period in my country. The faces of those scholars who claim that clogs were invented in Japan.
The lacquered clogs unearthed from Zhu Ran’s tomb have a hole in the front for a rope, and two holes in the back to make a clog. They are very similar to the clogs worn in Japan today. When they were exhibited in Japan, they caused a stir. caused a huge sensation. The discovery of lacquer clogs also brought the economic and cultural exchanges between China and Japan back to the Three Kingdoms era more than 1,700 years ago. This is undoubtedly a breakthrough discovery.
Japanese clogs, also known as "geta", are wooden shoes with four iron nails fixed underneath. The iron nails underneath are wear-resistant and anti-slip when walking. The clogs make a squeaking sound when you walk on them, which sounds very interesting.
This kind of shoe is more suitable for traveling in rainy days, or walking on wet and muddy roads, which will save you a lot of effort.
However, if we look closely at its structure, there is no difference between it and our country's "Xie Gong clogs". We also have reason to believe that Japan's clogs come from our country's "Xie Gong clogs".
Of course, the Japanese have also made great progress based on our country's "Xie Gong Clogs". There are also many products made around clogs, and tabi socks are one of them.
Japanese tabi socks were born for wearing zori shoes or clogs. Different from ordinary socks, they have a bifurcation between the thumb and other toes. There are also reasons for the bifurcation. Anti-slip device.
I believe anyone who has watched Japanese dramas knows that in Japanese culture, guests often have to take off their shoes at the door before entering the host's home. If the guest wears a pair of dirty socks, then this It is very rude to enter the host's house. Sometimes, the host may judge the first impression of the guest by looking at the socks worn by the guest. Therefore, Japanese people attach great importance to socks. This is also a new custom inspired by clogs.
So the question is, why do Japanese people like this thing that is obviously a Chinese invention and Chinese tradition? In fact, this has something to do with the climate in Japan.
Japan is an island country. Because this country is surrounded by the sea and is often visited by typhoons and earthquakes, the climate is relatively humid, there is a lot of rain, there are many mountain roads, and there are many swamps, so most of the local plants They are relatively short and most of them can hurt people.
Wearing clogs when walking on slippery roads can not only elevate the feet and prevent them from being hurt by plants on the ground, but also prevent mud and water from the ground from sticking to the insteps, ensuring that moisture does not enter the body and keep the feet from getting wet. Feet are drier and fresher, preventing the birth of beriberi.
The most important thing is that Japan's productivity in ancient times was relatively low. Before the Meiji Restoration, Japan's economy had almost no significant changes. People's living standards were low, and farming and animal husbandry were not as good as those in China. Therefore, There was no good material wasted on shoes. Clogs were more convenient to obtain and easier to make, so they were very popular among civilians at that time.
In addition, the convenience of Japanese women wearing clogs is that they did not have their feet bound when they were young like ancient women in our country, so they can walk well even wearing clogs. But in our country, if a woman with bound feet wears clogs, it will be really difficult to walk. Therefore, some people believe that the beginning of women's foot binding is the main reason why clogs quickly declined in our country.
In fact, we might as well explore the similarity between Japanese clogs and Chinese Xie Gong clogs from another angle: looking at the costumes of most ethnic minorities in our country, they actually have a bit of Han costumes. Whether it is a long robe with wide clothes and long sleeves, a bright color, or a slanted button or belt, it is one of the main features of Hanfu.
This illustrates a problem. The prosperity of the Han nationality in our country has given Han culture a great influence on surrounding cultures, causing them to subconsciously change towards "orthodoxy".
However, most of the ethnic minorities in our country live in remote areas and lack information. Therefore, the evolution of their clothes has not caught up with those in the Central Plains. As the environment in which they live has gradually improved, that is why they have become what they are now. A state of resemblance and non-resemblance.
The situation in Japan is actually similar to that of ethnic minorities. They used to learn Chinese culture, but because Japan is across the sea from our country, information spreads more slowly.
After they brought back the Han costumes from the Central Plains, they made changes according to their own production and labor needs, changing the Han costumes into kimonos and retaining the traditional clogs.
In Japan, there is also a saying that they actually come from the Yunnan region of our country. Now the Yunnan region of our country also has the habit of wearing "flip-flops" which are similar to clogs. Maybe this is a proof. , of course, it may also be a coincidence.
Having seen the history of clogs from China to Japan, I believe everyone is deeply touched by them. Many people know little about foreign things, and they just take it seriously when they hear other people say it. When we explore the unique customs of other countries, we should inquire more deeply and truly find its origin.
In fact, many things abroad come from China. However, in recent years, we have been too superstitious about foreign cultures and have ignored the history of our country.
References:
"Jijiupian"
"Sou Shen Ji"