Saw this detail shot of one the kneeling terracotta soldiers and it seems that nail-studs are being represented by the circular indentations. Roman legionaries famously wore studded sandals but I had no idea that Chinese soldiers were wearing studded shoes too esp. from so early on.

Any thoughts or further information? There's at least one story of a Roman legionary slipping on his nail-studded sandals (to his considerable detriment). Any similar stories about Chinese soldiers slipping on their shoes?

Cheers, Richard

An illustrated book I read claims the shoes wore by the Qin soldiers were made of wood, that is wooden shoes. I am still trying find evidence for this.

Thanks in advance. That would be interesting news to me.

I am thinking that hard-marching soldiers needed good shoes and perhaps nail-studded (or even wooden) shoes contributed to Qin success in some important way too so my question isn't entirely trivial.

Incidentally the depicted shoe can't be made of wood of course as it is shown flexing....

Wooden sandal may conceivably have been worn in ancient China (like later wooden Japanese geta sandals) but I don't believe the Qin army wore them in this case.
At a glance these can be seen to not be wood, and this bent appearance is often shown on kneeling Qin warriors.
Poor people wore woven straw sandals in the Han while leather shoes were wore by the wealthier. These materials were certainly used at that time, and wood is something I wouldn't be certain was used at all if it isn't represented in later Chinese periods.
The boots undersoles here will probably be something like leather, and I doubt the soles are studded with metal either.
They look more like they are scored for grip and not studded. If such metal fittings were added to shoes then there should be masses of these metal objects turning up in graves of people buried with armour or such where they decayed, either clusters of iron or else bronze domes around the feet. Untill some reference to this is made in a burial then the metal 'nails' idea should be put on hold.
The pictures look more like the underside of modern shoes that might be shaped for grip rather than an attachment, of course modern shoes have all sorts of varieties of patterns but the purpose is the same. You can find sneakers where a portion could look quite similar.
A texture like this could be added to tough leather just with a hole punch or a incising tool.
I have had these Qin shoes mentioned in a book before, the undersides for better grip, but I wouldn't know where I saw it and it didn't mention anything about the material as far as I recall. It is quite possible that there is no way of being certain so the physical appearance is all that can be concluded on.
The only thing we do know is what they looked like, and can assume it was for the purpose of traction just like on modern shoes.