Human ancestors began wearing shoes thousands of years ago; the practice has evolved from wrapping feet in animal hides and crafting basic leather footwear to the modern leather shoes we know today, marking a long history of use.
Legend has it that during the reign of the Yellow Emperor, a minister named Yu Ze pioneered the use of leather to create footwear. This is considered the origin of Chinese leather shoes.
By the Shang and Zhou dynasties, leather tanning and shoe-making technologies had reached a high level of sophistication. Inscriptions on Western Zhou bronze vessels contain records regarding the production of leather capes, aprons, raw-hide cords, drum skins, shoe uppers, dyed leather, and raw hides. Official posts were even established to oversee five specific industries: metalwork, jade carving, leatherworking, general craftsmanship, and stonework. This indicates that leather tanning and shoe production were so advanced that the imperial court appointed dedicated officials to manage them. Historical records note that Yi Yin, a chancellor of the Shang Dynasty, used leather to make shoes; by this reckoning, China has a shoe-making history spanning over 3,000 years, even if the styles differed from those of today. In contrast, the introduction of modern leather shoe-making techniques from abroad is a relatively recent development, dating back little more than a century.