Why did ancient women take off their shoes and put them aside before throwing themselves into the river?

This is related to the morality and beliefs of ancient people. In ancient times, diving suicide was also called "deciding by death". In fact, shoes are equivalent to the present suicide note, which proves that I committed suicide and was not killed by others.

In ancient times, shoes were common divination tools, just like coins now. "Take off your shoes, skim your shoes for divination", and determine good or bad luck through the orientation and pros and cons of your shoes. In ancient times, people committed suicide by diving in order to preserve their dignity, which was an act of "knowing their ambition when they died". Moreover, it was stipulated in ancient times that "violent death" was not allowed to enter the ancestral temple for sacrifice. If you commit suicide by throwing yourself into the river, because there is no evidence, it is considered homicide and you can't enter the ancestral temple. That's a death sentence. Later, throwing shoes into the river or not became a proof of suicide and homicide.

The river thrower left his shoes for another purpose. In the eyes of ancient people, the deceased was old and buried underground. Only by burying the dead body in the ground as soon as possible can he rest in peace as soon as possible. People who throw themselves into the river are tired of this world, and naturally want to be reincarnated as soon as possible and start over. If they throw themselves into the river without leaving any evidence, the government will definitely investigate the cause of their drowning after the bodies are salvaged, which will definitely delay for a long time. Leave the shoes as evidence, and future generations will bury the dead as soon as they know the cause of death.