She community retains unique cultural identity
Print Edition
JINGNING She Autonomous County, under the jurisdiction of the city of Lishui in east China’s Zhejiang Province, is home to the She ethnic minority.
Since the days of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), She people have retained their unique customs and traditions. Highly skilled in craft work, the She community makes their own sophisticated, colorful folk costumes and shoes. It allows them to fit in with the local climate and walk comfortably for long hours through the mountain trails and dirt paths.
In recent years, their handmade cloth shoes have gained a lot of attention after they were listed as Lishui’s intangible heritage, thanks to their exquisite technics and unique styles of art.
The She handmade cloth shoes are made of raw cotton and jute. The soles are usually made of layers of cloth stitched together by high-quality linen thread. To make the shoes last longer and also make them light and elastic, there are more than a dozen procedures in making just one pair of such shoes.
These include measuring and cutting out the foot shape, stitching the soles, drafting the patterns on the surface, embroidering, and final edging which give the shoes a more delicate and fine look.
Known as the “breathing shoes,” cloth shoes are not only comfortable to wear but environmentally friendly and economical as well.
While retaining the ethnic elements of the She people, the community has found ways to improve their traditional ways of making shoes — from the selection of the materials to designing the embroidery patterns — to meet the requirements of the modern life.
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