First of a Two-Part Series         

REPRINTED FROM QI JOURNAL Winter 2006

By Charles Yarborough, L.Ac.

     Have you ever noticed a stranger across the room or in a subway or a grocery store and found yourself thinking, “What an interesting face”?  It’s a natural response, an emotional reflex, thesubconscious recognition of character traits that resonate with yours.  If you’re free and single, you may try to catch their eye and say hello. If you’re not, you probably recognize it as inconsequential, and quickly move to other thoughts. Either way, without realizing it, you’ve amassed a mountain of visual data, sifted through it and made a complicated evaluation of a person you’ve never met. And you did it instantly.  You didn’t submit a questionnaire, didn’t seek profound insights from a pop-psychologist or bring the person home to be ogled by your family.  No, you used one of the most effective evaluators there is: face reading.

CONNUBIAL CONCEPTS

     One of the distinguishing features of Chinese culture is the notion of being inside or outside socially, of “having face” or not having it.  Polite, casual conversation is traditionally reserved for those who have face.  These are people who are related hierarchically through family, business or neighborhood.  In eras of political upheaval, this tradition assured predictability and safe social interaction.  Continued exposure to a comparatively informal Western culture, however, is gradually changing this tradition as well as the custom of arranged marriages.  This may or may not be a good thing. In historical China, marriages were more than the uniting of two people in love: they were durable bonds in which permanence, loyalty and familial obligation trumped romance and happiness.  By the time they reached adolescence, Chinese children often knew whom they’d be spending their lives with. In fact, Chinese folklore tells us that on the fifteenth day of Chinese New Year, when the first full moon rises, the Lunar Minister of Marriages looks down at the baby boys and girls on Earth and pairs them for life, encircling them with magical red ribbons.

     Americans aren’t encumbered by social pressures as are the Chinese, but they also aren’t supported by a culture that confirms the importance of marital bonding through the worst of times.  With a nearly 50% divorce rate, serial matrimony isn’t an embarrassment, it’s an option.

     How, then, do you pick a mate if your mother and a familial matchmaker aren’t involved in the decision?  While you may enjoy the freedom of choosing for yourself, you nevertheless have the responsibility of doing so wisely.  In the process of sifting through your options, Chinese Face Reading may help.

ABOUT FACE

     While Chinese Face Reading is a vast subject that requires skill and knowledge, there are some basic precepts that can be put to use quickly.  In considering the many facial features and their associated meanings, it is important to remember that people are more than lists of characteristics and prototypes.  Just as a chef transforms a list of ingredients into a memorable dish, so does the accomplished face reader create a character holograph that can be viewed from many angles.

     In practice, the features aren’t inspected randomly but as elements in groups.  These groups invariably include the Five Vital Organs, (eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth and ears), the position of markings, timelines, and the shape of the face. One particularly useful and succinct technique is “Rivers and Mountains.”  This entails inspection of the soft features and the prominent, bony features and is one of the techniques employed by the renowned Chinese face reader and teacher, Lillian Bridges.

CREATURE FEATURES

THE DATING ZONE

     Other features to consider are the varying heights and widths of the three lateral zones, known as san ding.  A tall upper zone (hairline to eyebrows) denotes a conceptually motivated person.  A tall middle zone (eyebrows to tip of nose) denotes a practically minded person and a tall lower zone (tip of nose to chin) denotes a person who interprets the world through raw experience.

     To illustrate how these types interact in the real world, let’s imagine we’re on a date with all three zones and we’ve taken them to see a movie.  Let’s say it’s “Pulp Fiction.” At dinner afterwards, Mr. Upper Zone tells you he appreciated the stylistic references, filmic pastiches and deliberate subversion of the temporal line in the movie’s narrative. Mr. Middle Zone marvels that the filmmaker once worked in a video store.  He says it just goes to show how determination, self-discipline and belief in your own talent can help you achieve your goals.  Mr. Lower Zone now chimes in. “Wow!” he gasps. “Did you see how John Travolta plunged that syringe into what’s-her-name’s heart?  I thought I was going to puke!”

     If these seem like gross oversimplifications of character, you’re right.  Lower zone people can, for instance, be very conceptual, and higher zone people can be neglectful and absent minded.  There is an inherent danger in merely cataloguing a person’s features and passing judgment on their character.  Features must be placed in contrast to each other.  The size of a nose may express the person’s ability to expend large amounts of money and energy, but what about the wisdom of these expenses?  A person with a tall upper zone may be profoundly intellectual but is this supported by robust sensuality?  The face is like a delicate tide pool in which each element exists in relationship to the surrounding features.  This means the accomplished face reader approaches the face with an open mind, free from prejudice, with a willingness to let his or her observations overrule his or her expectations.

FACE VALUES

     Below is a sampling of positives and negatives that demonstrates the relativity of each characteristic and how it changes within the context of situation.  A negative may change polarity when placed in the dynamic landscape of daily challenges.  This is why potential mates shouldn’t necessarily be dismissed without an understanding of their apparent flaws and idiosyncrasies.

* Negative spin: facial features reveal a man who loves food and material comforts (thick, full lips and fleshy tip of nose) but isn’t particularly refined or sophisticated in his tastes (wide, ill-defined bridge of nose).  * Positive spin: His features also suggest he isn’t difficult to please.  He may be a hard worker, someone with a deep and solid core of energy and determination, a man who is practically dye-cast for leadership (strong, square chin). Would a woman of great refinement--say a high-fashion designer or a violinist--do well to find such a man?  Only if having a secure and safe home life is necessary to her peace of mind and her ability to practice her art.

* Negative spin: facial features suggest a man who hates confrontation (a sunken area between thinly forested eyebrows), who is unlikely to push through a business deal without regard for the feelings of others, and who can be easily swayed by opinion. * Positive spin: He has, for his own reasons, deliberately chosen to make his way through the business world on high moral ground.  He has a talent for developing affinity with his associates and eliciting respect (wide hairline in the “friends” area, with close-set ears).  While he may be overly cautious of appearing too aggressive, he compensates by cultivating camaraderie with associates before presenting “the deal.” This means, ultimately, that his business associations are long-lasting and built on trust.  Would a woman do well to find such a man?  As long as he is able to discuss his feelings in the face of discomfort and doesn’t demonstrate passive-aggressive behavior, and as long as she isn’t seeking a cave man… quite possibly.

* Negative spin: facial features reveal a woman who is stubborn, defiant (flaring jaw line) and overly critical of others (triangular-appearing eyes).  Not surprisingly, she makes few friends and frequently offends and alienates co-workers.  She is suspicious of peoples’ motives and rarely edits her own words to allow for the feelings of others. * Positive spin: As a strategist for a prominent politician in a high-profile race, she has been asked to devise an eleventh-hour campaign to destroy the opponent’s reputation. As she begins to shape the plan, she realizes that the repercussions of her strategy will reach well beyond the race: they’ll result in the destruction of the opponent’s family life and the emotional well-being of his three young children.  She discusses her concerns with her boss and he is unmoved.  She patiently waits for the opportunity to “accidentally” erase every single file in his computer.  She then fills up his bathtub and dumps the computer in it (plugged in), blowing a fuse, and leaving it for him to discover.  She calls the press to announce her resignation; her boss cringes, hoping she won’t announce the reason for her departure.  While she has no patience or sentimentality for anybody she’s ever met, she feels deep compassion for humanity as a whole and is willing to risk her career by refusing to harm the innocent.  “I love humanity,” she says.  “I just can’t stand people!”

SHOCKING NEWS

     Potential mates are prized for their honesty as well as their dependability in difficult circumstances.  Can you predict how a person will react in a high-stress situation? Great stress can elicit unexpected behaviors, both altruistic and destructive.  A policeman may risk his own life in an act of spontaneous heroism, rescuing a person jumping from a bridge.  Conversely, as the famous Milgram experiments of 1961 demonstrated, ordinary people may be induced to commit murder when instructed to do so by a perceived authority.  In the Milgram experiment, participants were instructed to give progressively strong electric jolts to subjects who answered prescribed questions incorrectly.  What the participants didn’t realize was that the subjects were actors and that the shocks were fake.  As the “shocks” increased, the participants heard the subjects scream and beg to be unstrapped, complaining of a heart condition. Ultimately, 67% of the volunteers--average citizens--administered a “lethal shock.”

     Of course a husband, wife or partner may never wander into such a contrived experiment, but life is bound to bring unexpected tests of character.  Since stressors are unforeseeable, it’s best to know if a potential mate is resilient or fragile, stubborn or easygoing, and likely to solve problems creatively.  Is he or she a mature, seasoned character or a naif?  Do you find markings of emotional or physical trauma on the person’s face (dark areas on the time lines of the ears)?  These markings may not be unfavorable, assuming the person has survived the trauma with a deeper understanding of him or herself.  And what about latent and symptomatic medical conditions?

UNPACK YOUR BAGS

     Bags under the eyes (beyond any ethnic predisposition) may suggest lowered stamina, a weakened immune system and a decreased capacity for reproduction--possibly due to depleted adrenals (kidney-related).  It is also believed that puffiness under the eyes is associated with clumsiness, suggesting a diminished proprioceptive capacity (the brain’s ability to interpret the movement and relative positioning of our body parts).  But since Chinese face reading is more complex than the simple tallying up of features, one must remember that thick, elongated earlobes, a well-proportioned nose and pronounced dimples--together with smart lifestyle choices--may partially compensate for these troubling features.

     Aside from medical issues there is also the possibility of latent personality problems (The DSMIV* currently lists over 300 psychiatric disorders), which makes proficient mate picking all the more important.  Not surprisingly, there are numerous parallels between Western principles of psychology with its goal of emotional health, and the traditional Chinese view which cherishes balance within the framework of character and emotion.

IT’S ALL ABOUT ME

     While Chinese Face Reading may be useful in evaluating potential mates, it must ultimately be directed toward oneself.  A person must understand and articulate his or her own deepest needs as well as strengths and weaknesses.  Only then can he or she make reasonable demands on potential partners.  Self-knowledge is all the more important in our transient world, where we select our mates without the support of familial pressure or cultural traditions such as the I Ching.  The second part of this article (in the upcoming issue) will examine the process of self-revelation, our interactions with significant others and the mystery of facial markings and manifestations.  We’ll discuss how Chinese face reading gives us the power to choose our mates wisely by offering us insight into the mysteries of character and chemistry.

*Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, pub. by American Psychiatric Association

     Charles Yarborough is a licensed acupuncturist and the owner of Hamptons Health Circle in Pasadena, CA. 

 PART TWO OF THIS ARTICLE WILL APPEAR IN THE SPRING ISSUE OF QI JOURNAL

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