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Chunyao Li, Nanfang College Guangzhou, ChinaJiexiao Lin, Nanfang College Guangzhou, China
Abstract
According to existing data, geta was transmitted from China to Japan. After Tang Dynasty, Chinese geta was used as rain shoes and was no longer worn as everyday footwear, which led many people to regard geta as a type of “Japanese shoes”. This article attempts to utilize research findings from philology and archaeology to explore some historical topics. According to Chinese literature, geta originated during Spring and Autumn period, and from its emergence until Western Han Dynasty, it was merely a special type of footwear that was “suitable for walking in muddy places”. By Eastern Han Dynasty, it had become a popular type of footwear, and it was even an important item for women at weddings. The Wei-Jin and Southern-Northern Dynasties marked the “golden age” of geta, especially during the Southern Dynasties, when geta became an essential accessory for noble families. Additionally, according to Tang poetry, geta was still very popular during the Tang empires, but after the period, geta gradually became marginalized. On the other hand, historical materials from Japan tell us that as early as Tang periods, Japanese envoys brought geta to Japan, but we do not have literary evidence regarding the exact time of its introduction. Archaeological discoveries in Japan show that geta has already appeared at the Hōbuzan site and the Kamota site, suggesting that geta may have been transmitted to Japan during the Wei-Jin and Southern-Northern Dynasties, and had social influence during this period, which coincided with the peak popularity of geta in Chinese history.
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Conference: ACCS2025Stream: History
This paper is part of the ACCS2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Li C., & Lin J. (2025) A Brief Discussion on the Development of Geta in Ancient China and Its Transmission to Japan ISSN: 2187-4751 – The Asian Conference on Cultural Studies 2025: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 117-124) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2187-4751.2025.10
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2187-4751.2025.10
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