Manchu platform shoes
Manchu platform shoes refers to two styles of traditional Manchu women's high platform shoes which appeared in the early Qing dynasty and continued to be worn even in the late Qing dynasty. Depending on its shape, it could be classified as: History. When the Manchu conquered China in the Qing dynasty, they forbade Manchu women from binding their feet like the Han Chinese women. It is sometimes suggested that the Manchu platforms shoes were used to imitate the gait of the Han Chinese women with bound feet. However, it is also suggested that the use of  high platform shoes is not influenced by the Han Chinese but the results of the living conditions adaptation in the North east regions. Making shoes out of wood has been a traditionally made by the ancestors of the Manchu. According to folk stories, the thick-soled shoe first appeared when a goddess decided to keep off insects and dust when she faced a situation where she had to walk in the mud. Another legend associate the creation of the platform shoes to Princess Duoluo Ganzhu who ordered her soldiers to use wooden stilts to cross the marshes; this invention allowed  the soldiers to launch a surprise attack and to win their capital back. Since then, Manchu women wore the high, stilt-like platform shoes. In the early Qing dynasty, the "huapen xie" and the "mati xie" appeared. In the mid 19th century, the Manchu women's set of attire was composed of the high platform shoe, the Manchu robe, and the liangbatou. In the late Qing dynasty, Manchu women eventually did practice some kind of loose foot binding, called "liutiao jiao" (lit. 'willow branch feet') for a short duration of time (only 1 month) in order to compress the feet  in a narrow, knife-life shape under the influence of the Han Chinese. Construction and design. Materials. The lower portion of the shoe was a high platform heel which was made out of wood while the upper portion shoe was made of fabric. The sole was padded with several layers of cotton which could have allowed the shoes to be worn indoor or only when there were special events. The right and the left were interchangeable.