Initially, it was the sheer artistic whimsy that struck me. These lovely hand-crafted objects, requiring days of labor, are basically never meant to be seen. Call me a prying Westerner if you like, but I just couldn't pass this by. Let's take a look.

Needlework and paper-cuts

Contemporary memory holds that the tradition of embroidered insoles goes back at least 150 years. The embroidery patterns, which are numerous, are said to be directly derived from the handicraft of paper-cuts, another very old Shanxi folk-craft. By today, these paper-cut designs have found their way into all forms of embroidery, for example, pillow cases, table and bed sheets and clothing.

In previous times, these patterns had to be hand-copied onto paper by the seamstress; today, the designs have been conveniently stored in computer databases to be printed out.

Traditionally, embroidered insoles, along with other hand-sewn items, were given at weddings. So prolific however are the women of Anze in this skill (which they begin learning in their early teens), that not a foot within the city but treads upon an embroidered insole.

Construction of the sole

The basic tools required for the work are relatively simple: sturdy sewing needle, two forms of ring-thimble, and various colored threads.

As for the insole itself, however, there is more to this than meets the eye. The very center of the sole is a stiff piece of cloth (or even cardboard), on top of which is starch-glued a soft cloth padding. The sole now needs a covering, which is of two parts. First, the side that faces the inner shoe is plain, though strong, cloth or paper. Next, the side that faces up, on which the pattern will be sewn, is cloth with tiny perforations (to facilitate the needlework).

As insoles, naturally, are subject to hard wear, the stitching is of a fine, dense quality: A single pair of insoles requires 30 to 35 hours of sewing!

As with a great many traditional handicrafts, although the tools are basic, the quality of the product is rather high. The key factor, of course, is the skill of the seamstress. Around 15 years of practice is necessary in order to become an expert in the embroidering of insoles.

Insole insights

The expenditure of such time and effort on such a relatively insignificant, and little seen, item as insoles strikes many a modern mind, Western and Chinese alike, as bordering upon ludicrous. And yet, for something like a century and a half, the seamstresses of Anze have not thought so.

Indeed, there is the temptation to simply write off this practice of embroidered insoles as nothing more than a local aberration, devoid of any deeper meaning. This most common response, however, I believe, misses a very important point regarding traditional culture.

For contemporary people, utilitarian objects are strictly functional, bearing little, if any, personal character (e.g. the chair you sit upon is merely comfortable or not, and nothing more). In previous times, however, with all objects being handmade, the personal imprint and care of the craftsman, often in the form of an embellishment, was marked upon the object. Even more so when the receiver was a relative or friend.

Thus, in the embroidered insoles of Anze, we encounter a living link between production and social relations, today, by and large, long lost.

The author is an American living in Taiyuan in Shanxi Province