red shoes - In accordance with the latest fashion this official is
wearing red shoes. Originally red shoes were the footwear of women at night.
They skillfully
decorated their shoes with intricate embroidery in their personal
style. The auspicious
color and fine decorations should emphasize the small
size of their lotus feet when gazed at by men.
Because of this connotation with female sexual attraction one
conservative critic sharply criticized the fad of men wearing red
shoes. He considered it a form of inappropriate cross-dressing. But
when we carefully examine portraits of officials, Buddhist abbots,
and even emperors from the late Ming, we have to consider the
critics’ view as essentially neglected and therefore outdated.
