Chiyang Daoren, Eastern Taoism
1. What the Methods of the Schools Have in Common
Although ancient face reading had many schools, they share a core consensus—what might be called cross-school commonalities. Ancient face reading showed a high degree of agreement on its basic framework and core logic, which make up the “underlying logic” of all physiognomy. The main points are as follows:
All schools hold that “the Three Sections” determine one's broad fortune in life. All divide the face into the Upper Section, from the hairline to the eyebrows, governing fortune in youth; the Middle Section, from the eyebrows to the nose, governing fortune in middle age; and the Lower Section, from the nose to the chin, governing fortune in old age. All the schools basically accept the core formula: “A long Upper Section, a prosperous youth; a long Middle Section, close to the ruler; a long Lower Section, an auspicious old age; when the Three Sections are equal, one lacks neither food, clothing, nor emolument all one's life.”
All schools hold that “the five features” determine character and the details of fortune. In practice they all agree: for the eyes (the Supervising Officer), clear whites and dark pupils and a gaze that is held back rather than exposed are auspicious, while “three-white eyes” (with white showing on three sides of the iris) and a muddy gaze are inauspicious; for the nose (the Wealth Officer), a straight bridge and a fleshy tip are signs of wealth, while a crooked bridge and a pointed, thin tip are signs of poverty; for the mouth (the Treasurer Officer), red lips, white teeth, and upturned corners are signs of good fortune in food and drink, while thin lips and a crooked mouth are omens of quarrels and gossip; for the ears (the Listening Officer), ears set higher than the eyebrows mean cleverness and early success, and thick, large earlobes are signs of blessings and long life.
All schools share a holistic and dynamic view in which no feature is read in isolation. Face reading basically always stresses that “no feature is read alone.” In the practice of reading, all follow the principle that one cannot look at a single part in isolation but must judge comprehensively in light of the overall pattern of the face and changes in complexion. All likewise hold that “the face is born of the heart,” and so they accept that the face changes with one's temperament and conduct: good thoughts can cultivate a blessed face, and evil thoughts will damage an auspicious one. Of course, these core points of consensus are the fundamental reason face reading has survived and been handed down, yet it would be unrealistic to say there are no differences. If there were no differences, there could not be so many schools. The differences among the schools, however, are relatively simple: in essence they are differences between “pragmatism” and “theory,” and between “the popular” and “the elite.”
2. How the Methods of the Schools Differ
The Jianghu school centers on “judging fortune quickly and meeting popular demand.” Through mystifying presentation and transmission by rhymed formulas, it became part of folk culture.
The Scholar school, by contrast, aims at “recognizing people and cultivating oneself, in the service of the upper classes.” Through building theory and writing books, it became part of the cultural system of the traditional scholar-officials.
It is precisely because of this difference that together they make up the complete system of ancient face reading. This system is also a kind of ecology of face reading, providing the basis on which it survived and developed. Within this ecology, face reading met ordinary people's psychological need to “explore their fate” while also giving the elite a practical tool for “recognizing and employing people.”
1. The Jianghu School
The Jianghu school of face reading has one masterpiece: “quick judgment.” Quick judgment is a skill every itinerant face reader wants to master, because it satisfies the psychological needs of most people whose faces are read, and in turn it raises the reader's own skill. So the Jianghu school of ancient face reading offered several methods of quick judgment, as follows:
First, quick judgment by the five features.
This is the most intuitive shortcut, mainly determining good or ill fortune from a single feature. For example, the Jianghu school bound the five facial features directly to “wealth, official career, health, and character,” forming formulas in which “one sees the feature and at once states the verdict,” with no complicated reasoning required. Details follow:
Eyes: an auspicious quick verdict is “Eyes like dots of lacquer: wealth and rank beyond doubt”—that is, eyes with clear whites and dark pupils and a gaze held back rather than exposed are judged to show an upright temperament and easy help from benefactors. An inauspicious quick verdict is “Three-white eyes exposed: harm to the six kin”—that is, when more white than dark shows, the person is judged to be solitary and eccentric and prone to falling out with family and friends.
Nose: an auspicious quick verdict is “A fleshy nose tip, no poison in the heart”—that is, a round, fleshy nose tip is judged to show a kind heart and stable finances. An inauspicious quick verdict is “A knotted nose bridge, no kin to rely on”—that is, a bridge with a raised knot is judged to show a stubborn character and thin family ties.
Mouth: an auspicious quick verdict is “Red lips and white teeth: good food comes of itself”—that is, rosy lips and even teeth are judged to mean no worries about food and clothing and virtuous speech. An inauspicious quick verdict is “Drooping mouth corners: a lifetime of toil and hardship”—that is, mouth corners that naturally turn down are judged to show a pessimistic character and much labor with no success.
Ears: an auspicious quick verdict is “Ears higher than the eyebrows: clever and early to rise”—that is, ears set higher than the eyebrows are judged to show exceptional gifts and success in youth. An inauspicious quick verdict is “Earlobes pressed back: harm to wife and loss of children”—that is, earlobes lying back against the face are judged to mean an unhappy marriage and a thin bond with children.
Eyebrows: an auspicious quick verdict is “Clear brows and fine eyes: a smooth official career”—that is, smooth eyebrows of elegant shape are judged to mean a successful career and easy access to power. An inauspicious quick verdict is “Brows as messy as weeds: entangled in rights and wrongs”—that is, disordered eyebrows are judged to show an impetuous character and a tendency to invite quarrels and lawsuits.
Second, quick judgment by “the Three Sections.”
This determines one's broad fortune in life stage by stage and is the most classic framework of quick judgment. It uses the upper, middle, and lower “Three Sections” to divide life into stages and judges the course of fortune directly by “length, height, squareness, and roundness.” Details follow:
Upper Section: governs fortune in youth. An auspicious quick verdict is “A full Upper Section: success in the examinations in youth”—that is, a broad, full forehead is judged to mean a clever youth, smooth studies, and help from benefactors early in life. An inauspicious quick verdict is “A sunken Upper Section: many hardships in youth”—that is, a low, flat, or sunken forehead is judged to mean a hard youth, obstacles in study, and no one to depend on early in life.
Middle Section: governs fortune in middle age. An auspicious quick verdict is “A raised Middle Section: rising to prosperity in middle age”—that is, when the area from the eyes and eyebrows to the nose bridge is prominent, it is judged that one's career will take off in middle age, with flourishing finances and rising status. An inauspicious quick verdict is “A short Middle Section: straitened in middle age”—that is, when the area from the eyes and eyebrows to the nose bridge is short and small, it is judged that in middle age one's talents will go unrecognized, one's career will stall, and one's finances will rise and fall.
Lower Section: governs fortune in old age. An auspicious quick verdict is “A square, round Lower Section: enjoying blessings in old age”—that is, a broad, round chin is judged to mean a peaceful old age, filial descendants, and both blessings and long life. An inauspicious quick verdict is “A pointed, thin Lower Section: lonely and bitter in old age”—that is, a pointed, narrow, sunken chin is judged to mean loneliness and helplessness in old age and a tendency to meet with misfortune.
Balanced Three Sections: covers fortune in youth, middle age, and old age. An auspicious quick verdict is “Three equal Sections: a smooth life”—that is, when the upper, middle, and lower sections are close in length and width, it is judged that life will have no great ups and downs and no worries about food and clothing. An inauspicious quick verdict is “Unbalanced Three Sections: a turbulent life”—that is, when one section is too long or too short, it is judged that fortune will swing sharply between stages of life and be hard to keep in balance.
Third, quick judgment by special patterns.
This defines special forms of the face as a “noble pattern” or a “lowly pattern” and judges fortune directly at a glance, rather in the spirit of “one look decides a whole life,” with a strong air of the magical arts. Several quick judgments by special pattern follow:
Dragon-and-phoenix eyes: this special pattern is a noble pattern, almost never used to judge misfortune and mostly used to extol a “noble destiny.” The Jianghu school's logic ties it to the image of the highest nobility, “emperors, generals, and ministers.” Its quick verdict is “When dragon-and-phoenix eyes open, it is the face of an emperor”—that is, long, narrow eyes with upturned outer corners and pupils with clear whites and dark irises are judged to show exceptional gifts and the ability to achieve great things or hold great power.
The “guo”-shaped face (a square face shaped like the Chinese character guo, “country”): this special pattern is also a noble pattern, mostly used to judge great wealth and high rank. The Jianghu school's logic ties it to the authoritative image of “prime ministers and high officials.” Its quick verdict is “A square, round guo face: the bearing of a prime minister”—that is, a square facial outline with a broad jaw is judged to show a broad mind that can embrace a hundred rivers and the ability to wield power over a region.
Sword brows and starry eyes: this special pattern is also a noble pattern, mostly used to judge “the temperament of a leader.” The Jianghu school's logic ties it to the forceful image of “heroes and leaders.” Its quick verdict is “Sword brows and starry eyes: the face of a hero”—that is, eyebrows like swords and a sharp gaze are judged to show a bold, decisive character, someone who dares to act and can achieve great things.
A marred face: a “marred face” generally means facial deformity or scars. This special pattern is a lowly pattern, almost never used to judge good fortune. The Jianghu school's logic ties it to the negative image of “calamity, disfigurement, and bad luck.” Its quick verdict is “A marred face damages blessings: a lifetime of hardship”—that is, facial deformity or fairly obvious scars are judged to mean a tendency to meet calamity, fortune that cannot hold steady, and little good luck overall.
Since the Jianghu school champions quick judgment, from its own point of view it does not do so at random. In fact, it has its own underlying logic, which mainly consists in simplifying understanding to meet the psychological needs of those whose faces are read. To this end it seized on three keys. The first is turning things into formulas: in the mouths of itinerant face readers, relatively complex face-reading theory was compressed into a format of “short phrase plus verdict,” such as “A low, sunken Shangen (the bridge of the nose between the eyes) means a hard life, poor and alone in early years and hard fortune late; but if the Yintang is broad and bright, one will have both wealth and rank in middle age,” and “A fleshy nose tip, no poison in the heart.” The second is framing things as scenarios: most people who come to have their faces read care about little more than “wealth, official career, marriage, and health.” Itinerant face readers were good at setting these basic needs as basic scenarios and tying them with simple phrases to the client's most pressing worries; for example, the single line “Drooping mouth corners: a lifetime of toil and hardship” basically pronounces the ruin of one's finances and official career. The third is mystification: judging fortune “at a glance” with a thoughtful look, and conveying “clear distinctions of noble and lowly” in catchy phrases, is itself strongly mysterious, and when the verdict is delivered in an absolute tone, the appeal of the so-called “divine art” grows even stronger. Yet such quick judgment easily mistakes a part for the whole: in quick judgment, the holistic view that “no feature is read alone” is basically ignored. It easily reduces the complex course of a life to a binary verdict of “good or bad,” largely ignoring the effect of personal effort and changing circumstances, and falls into the error of “absolutism.” Some verdicts, to grab attention, deliberately exaggerate a so-called “noble pattern” or “lowly pattern” with emphasis tailored to each client; the flavor of commercial marketing is strong, and the “utilitarian” motive is obvious.
2. The Scholar School
The Scholar school is different. Its face reading centers on building theory and internal logical consistency, and it mainly serves the upper classes. So in its face reading it deeply fuses the practical Confucian ethic of “observing people to recognize talent” with the Taoist philosophical reflection on “the unity of heaven and humanity,” forming a complete system from theoretical framework to practical application.
First, the Confucian idea of “observing people to recognize talent.”
Confucianism stresses “having both virtue and talent, with virtue first,” so the Scholar school turned face reading from “judging good and ill fortune” to “recognizing talent.” Judging a person's moral character, type of ability, and suitable post from facial features became a tool for scholar-officials selecting their staff advisers and for rulers examining their ministers.
The four-dimensional method of recognizing people in The Ice Mirror: “spirit, bones, flesh, and complexion.” In The Ice Mirror, Zeng Guofan put forward that “the face is the expression of the heart,” breaking the face down into four dimensions—spirit (mental state), bones (skeletal structure), flesh (fullness of the muscles), and complexion (changes in coloring)—which correspond to the four Confucian virtues of “humaneness, wisdom, courage, and trustworthiness,” forming a logic of recognizing people with “virtue first and talent as its support”:
Spirit: that is, mental state, corresponding to the Confucian virtue of “humaneness,” that is, one's temperament. The facial feature is “spirit held within and not exposed, a warm and gentle gaze”—that is, a reserved gaze with clear whites and dark pupils and no fierce light flashing. By the logic of recognizing talent, such a person is judged a “talent of humane virtue,” suited to posts in education and civil administration, able to unite people's hearts and contribute to social stability.
Bones: that is, skeletal structure, corresponding to the Confucian virtue of “wisdom,” that is, talent and learning. The facial feature is “a clear, unusual bone structure with high brow ridges”—that is, prominent brow bones and cheekbones wrapped in flesh rather than jutting out. By the logic of recognizing talent, such a person is judged a “talent of strategy,” suited to posts such as adviser or military strategist, with some ability to plan from behind the lines and to devise stratagems.
Flesh: that is, fullness of the muscles, corresponding to the Confucian virtue of “courage,” that is, the ability to carry things out. The facial feature is “full flesh and a full face”—that is, evenly proportioned facial muscles with no hollowness or gauntness. By the logic of recognizing talent, such a person is judged a “talent of practical action,” suited to posts as a military officer or clerk, able to carry out orders resolutely and to handle affairs in a down-to-earth way without the slightest sloppiness.
Complexion: that is, changes in coloring, corresponding to the Confucian virtue of “trustworthiness,” that is, integrity. The facial feature is “a bright, moist complexion, rosy all year round”—that is, a stable facial complexion without bluish-black gloom. By the logic of recognizing talent, such a person is judged a “talent who upholds what is right,” suited to posts in supervision and the judiciary, able to hold the line, enforce the law fairly, and stick to principle in dealing with people and affairs.
It is said that when Zeng Guofan selected Li Hongzhang as a staff adviser, he observed that Li's “spirit was held within and not exposed” (humaneness), his “brow ridges were high” (wisdom), and his “complexion was bright and moist” (trustworthiness), and so he judged him a man with both virtue and talent. Li Hongzhang did indeed later become one of the leading ministers of the late Qing, which perhaps may be taken as confirming the four-dimensional method of recognizing people through “spirit, bones, flesh, and complexion” that Zeng Guofan set out in The Ice Mirror.
Second, the Taoist idea of “the unity of heaven and humanity.”
Taoism stresses that “human beings share the same structure as heaven and earth.” The Scholar school saw the face as “the microcosm of the human body,” holding that facial features correspond to the natural solar terms, the energies of the Five Phases, and the cycle of life. It thus formed a dialectical system of “interpreting the face through the phenomena of heaven and judging fortune through the face,” binding the face to “the laws of nature and the energy of life” and seeking a “cosmic logic” for physiognomy.
The theory in Mayi Physiognomy that “the Three Sections correspond to the Three Powers.” Why did Mayi Physiognomy become a classic recognized by both the Jianghu school and the Scholar school? The reason may be that it incorporates the Taoist idea of “the unity of heaven and humanity.” Mayi Physiognomy matches the “Three Sections” of the face to the Taoist cosmology of “heaven, earth, and humanity”—the so-called “Three Sections corresponding to the Three Powers.” It holds that fortune in life is not a matter of simple “fatalism” but the joint result of “the Way of Heaven (the laws of nature), the Way of Earth (circumstances and opportunities), and the Way of Humanity (personal effort)”:
The Upper Section—the part from the hairline to the eyebrows—corresponds to “the Way of Heaven.” Its facial feature is “a long Upper Section, a prosperous youth”—that is, with a broad forehead, one's youth accords with the Way of Heaven, so one's natural gifts are easily brought into play. If the Upper Section is short, one's natural gifts in youth are insufficient, and later effort is needed; one must do one's utmost to make up for this inborn shortfall and change one's fate.
The Middle Section—the part from the eyebrows to the nose—corresponds to “the Way of Humanity.” Its facial feature is “a long Middle Section, close to the ruler”—that is, with fine eyes and eyebrows and a prominent nose bridge, one's personal abilities can be brought fully into play in middle age, helping one's career take off. If the Middle Section is short, in middle age one needs to adjust one's attitude or make friends with sound values, and in daily life pay attention to cultivating one's character and nurturing one's nature, creating a good atmosphere in life so as to awaken one's own potential and change one's fate.
The Lower Section—the part from the base of the nose (the philtrum) to the chin—corresponds to “the Way of Earth.” Its facial feature is “a long Lower Section, an auspicious old age”—that is, with a deep, long, well-defined philtrum and a broad chin, one's circumstances in old age are favorable, and descendants and blessings accumulate easily. If the Lower Section is short, one must pay special attention in old age to steadily accumulating good deeds and virtue and savings, so that one's circumstances in old age are better and one's fate is changed.
It is said that the Ming scholar Wang Yangming in his youth had “a short Upper Section, lacking in the Way of Heaven.” Through diligent study and awakening to the Tao, he finally made up for his inborn shortfall, and in middle age his face did indeed change, with “a raised Middle Section (the Way of Humanity exerting its force),” and in the end he became a great master of the School of Mind. This perhaps confirms the Taoist idea of “the unity of heaven and humanity” and the cosmology of “heaven, earth, and humanity.”
In short, the relationship among the schools of ancient face reading is in fact a dynamic process of evolution through “theoretical inheritance, practical complementarity, and cultural fusion.” From this angle, school affiliation is not absolute; there is both “crossover” and “evolution.”
Mayi Physiognomy, the classic of the Jianghu school, should be regarded as “the theoretical source of the Jianghu school,” but part of its theory was absorbed by the Scholar school, so it has both “the practicality of the Jianghu school” and “the theoretical character of the Scholar school.”
The Ice Mirror, the classic of the Scholar school, belongs to the Scholar school, but the practical features of its “art of observing people” were borrowed by the Jianghu school, forming a hybrid of “Scholar-school theory and Jianghu-school application.”
The regional schools carried out “local adaptation” and the like when applying methods across schools. Yet “for all the changes, the essence stays the same”: every school follows the principle that “the face reflects one's state, and one's state affects one's fate”; they differ only in their logic of interpretation and their fields of application.