Straw sandals originates from remote China history, and they are a major invention in China. They were originally called "door leaf". As grass straw is readily available, common people in the past could easily provide for themselves.
Making straw scandal embodied the virtues of wisdom and diligent, which are important part of chinese culture.
In the famous China novel,The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei, emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty was selling straw sandals before he became emperor.