Mayi Shenxiang · The Mayi Art of Physiognomy

The Five Offices, Form and Spirit

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General Discussion of the Five Offices The Five Offices are: first, the ears, the Office of Hearing; second, the brows, the Office of Preserving Life; third, the eyes, the Office of Inspection; fourth, the nose, the Office of Discrimination; fifth, the mouth, the Office of Receiving and Issuing. The Great Unity Rhapsody says: one office perfected gives ten years of distinguished rank; one storehouse accomplished gives ten years of abundant wealth. If just one of the Five Offices is perfected, ten years of rank can be enjoyed. If all five are perfected, that rank endures into old age. Ears, the Office of Hearing: regardless of size, their rims and inner contours should be distinct. Being whiter than the face is favored. Water ears, Earth ears, Metal ears, ox ears, round game-piece ears, ears close to the head, ears unseen when facing the person, ears one cun above the brows, thick rims and firm inner contours, red, moist coloring, long fine hairs inside, and small rather than large openings: these perfect the Office of Hearing. Mouse ears, Wood ears, Fire ears, arrow-feather ears, pig ears, flying rims and reversed inner contours are unfavorable; low, small, soft and weak ears also fail to perfect it. The text calls these unfavorable in youth and harmful to the Six Kin. Brows, the Office of Preserving Life: clarity, height, sparseness, refinement, curve and length are favored. They should also be one cun above the eyes, with tails brushing Heavenly Storehouse. These indicate intelligence, wealth, rank, ingenuity, fortune and longevity, and perfect this office. Coarse, thick, yellow, pale, scattered, disordered, low and pressing brows indicate punitive injury and ruin; this office is then not perfected. Eyes, the Office of Inspection: black and white should be distinct. Phoenix, elephant, ox, dragon-and-tiger, crane, monkey, peacock, mandarin-duck, lion and magpie eyes, spirit concealed rather than exposed, black like lacquer, white like jade, and long waves shooting toward the ears, naturally clear, refined and imposing: these perfect the Office of Inspection. Snake, bee, sheep, mouse, chicken, pig, fish, horse, fire-wheel and four-whites eyes; invading red and white gauze; round pupils with black and white mixed; excessive exposure of spiritual light; dimness and lack of clarity fail to perfect it. The source further associates them with foolish obstinacy, adversity and defeat. Nose, the Office of Discrimination: it should be full, raised, upright and fleshy. Reclining-rhinoceros, dragon-and-tiger, lion, ox, hu-sheep, cut-tube, full-pouch and suspended-gallbladder noses, upright without skew or deviation, and the source's not-coarse/small-size wording perfect this office. Dog, crucian-carp, eagle-beak, sword-peak, reverse-chant, repeated-chant, three-bend and three-curve noses; exposed nostrils; upward hearths; flatness and weakness; exposed ridge or bone; and an oversized solitary peak fail to perfect it. The source links these with fierceness, poverty, failure, punitive wrongdoing, deceit and greed. Mouth, the Office of Receiving and Issuing: red lips, white teeth, two equally full lips, a deep, long philtrum, an upturned moon or bent bow, a square mouth like the character for four, ox, dragon and tiger mouths, and lips neither reversed nor raised, upturned nor pointed perfect this office. Pig, dog and sheep mouths; an overturned boat; the two obscure fish forms; feeding like a mouse or sheep; short lips and exposed teeth; black or wrinkled lips; a thin upper lip and reversed lower lip; yellow, scorched, dry, coarse and turbid whiskers fail to perfect it. The book says that even one perfected office governs ten years of rank, stipend and abundant wealth, while an imperfect one necessarily governs ten years of hardship. The Five Peaks The forehead is Mount Heng, the Southern Peak. The chin is Mount Heng, the Northern Peak. The nose, with a cheekbone word attached in this copy, is Mount Song, the Central Peak. The left cheekbone is Mount Tai, the Eastern Peak. The right cheekbone is Mount Hua, the Western Peak. The Central Peak should rise high and full; the Eastern Peak should rise and face it in response. Without fullness and steepness there is no force: the text calls this a petty person without great longevity. If the Central Peak is thin and the face has no force, the other four peaks lack a ruler. Even with favorable features elsewhere, great rank, awe-inspiring weight and power do not result, nor very long life. A Central Peak that falls short yet is long gives only middling longevity; if pointed and thin, it meets ruin in later life and little final satisfaction. A slanting Southern Peak indicates ruin and is unsuitable for heading a household. A pointed, sunken Northern Peak is linked in an irregular final-period clause with lack of achievement and ultimate rank. Eastern and Western Peaks falling and lacking force are associated with a malicious heart without compassion. The Five Peaks must face one another. The Four Waterways The ears are the Jiang; the eyes the He; the mouth is followed here by an irregular who graph; the nose is the Ji. The Four Waterways should be deep and far-reaching, well formed, with banks that do not run away. Wealth and grain then come to fruition, possessions are not consumed, and much is stored. The ears are the Jiang Waterway. Their openings should have the supplied hearing quality and depth, with the protection of double walls; tightness means intelligence and an unbroken household estate. The eyes are the He Waterway: depth means longevity; small length a distinguished form; brightness intelligence; shallowness short life; dim turbidity many obstructions. Roundness is followed by a damaged lifespan expression. Neither too large nor too small means rank. The mouth is here called Huai-Mo. It should be square and broad, the lips covering and supporting each other. A thin upper lip does not cover; a thin lower lip does not support. Failure to cover or support means no longevity and no late-life fortune. Without covering, the household must be overturned. The nose is the Ji Waterway: fullness, height, radiance and roundness, without breakage or exposure, are said to ensure household wealth. Three Rulers and Three Pillars A pointed forehead brings disaster under the early ruler; A crooked nose brings flight under the middle ruler. To know the affairs of the later years, Earth Storehouse should be square and high. The head is the Pillar of Longevity; the body the Beam Pillar; the feet the Ridge Pillar. The Five Stars and Six Luminaries The Five Stars are Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth. The Six Luminaries are Greater Yang, Greater Yin, Moon-Luan, Luohou, Jidu and Purple Qi. Fire Star should be square: squareness obtains a golden seal. This is the forehead. Purple Qi should be round: roundness obtains high office. This is Seal Hall. Earth Star should be substantial: substantiality obtains long life. This is the nose. Wood Star should face inward: the Five Blessings are then all abundant. This is the right ear. Metal Star should be white: official position will ultimately be obtained. This is the left ear. Luohou should be long: length feeds from Heavenly Storehouse. This is the left brow. Jidu should be even: evenness obtains wife and children. This is the right brow. The source's Moon-Character should be straight: straightness obtains food and clothing. This is Mountain Root. Greater Yin should be black: blackness obtains official employment. This is the right eye. Greater Yang should be radiant: radiance strengthens fortune and stipend. This is the left eye. Water Star should be red: redness makes one a Three Excellencies official. This is the mouth. Judgment Verses on the Five Stars and Six Luminaries Metal and Wood Stars are the ears. For rank, their rims and inner contours should be distinct. The text describes unequal red and white coloring there, then a size as broad as a door. They should be upright, neither reversed nor pointed nor small, and likewise higher than brows and eyes. Silver-like whiteness is especially favorable. Those born with Metal and Wood shining upon their allotted lives certainly receive stipend early. Reversed, slanting, narrow ears, or large or small ears, sink these stars: the person loses fields and houses, wastes wealth and lacks learning. Verse: Metal and Wood paired, with contour and rim, A Wind Gate admitting a finger signifies intelligence. Upright and raised, facing above Luo and Ji, Wealth, rank and glory renew themselves daily. Metal and the source's root-or-Wood flowering mean lifelong poverty; Turned rims and reversed contours bring hardship. If any among them hold office, They remain petty and never rise above the dust. The left ear is Metal; the right ear Wood. Water Star is the mouth, called the Inner School Hall. It should have red lips, breadth, four corners, a deep philtrum, and upright mouth and teeth. These give literary accomplishment and official stipend. Coarse lips and teeth, drooping mouth corners and yellow coloring indicate poverty and low station. Verse: A mouth enclosing the character four, vermilion-red, Both corners edged and rising toward office, Surely marks a literary, intelligent, outstanding scholar, Passing examinations young to become prince or duke. Water Star's next damaged descriptor accompanies both ends drooping; Pointed thinness without an edge is called qi-er here. If displaced to one side or the other, It means disputes, deceit and love of advantage. Fire Star is the forehead. A broad forehead and deep hairline give stipend, position, food and clothing, and four or five children. Such a person has skill and learning and honored parents. At birth the Life Palace receives Fire Star's power: there are fields and houses and a lifespan of ninety-nine. A pointed, mean forehead with many lines sinks Fire Star. There is no rank; the wording about no children and one or two children is irregular. In old age they offer no support. Food and clothing are ordinary, brothers provide no support, and the outcome is poverty, no great longevity, harm to the wife and lost wealth. Verse: Fire Star's palace should be broad, square and level, Moist and unlined, its qi and color fresh. Three raised bone lines like the character for river Mean passing examinations young and becoming duke or minister. Pointed, narrow Fire Star is followed by the obscure current-class phrase; Crisscrossing, disordered lines mean penal exile or imprisonment. Two scarlet vessels invading Sun and Moon Mean weapons, execution and death in another region. Verse: The star lords Luo and Ji are refined and long, Distinct, close against the flesh, responding to the Three Yang. This appearance not only holds official employment; Thought of duty makes its name known far away. Sparse Luohou and high, raised bones Mean a hasty nature fond of fierce boldness. Deceitful brows resemble drooping willow; Brothers of one womb have whorled hair. Luo is left; Ji right. Verse on the Nose as Earth Star: Earth Lodge upright and round, like a cut tube; Large hearth-gate openings mean the Three Excellencies. Orchid Terrace and Court Commandant respond, Surely carrying reputation to worthies and sages. Crooked Earth Lodge suffers bitterness; A pointed, thin Nose Tip means isolation and poverty. Seen from the side, hooked like an eagle's beak, The source attributes inward deceit and harm to others. Broad and round within Purple Qi Palace, Facing and attending the emperor, an outstanding worthy; Orchid Terrace and Court Commandant respond, And the final ruler brings official glory and abundant money. Narrow and pointed within Purple Qi Palace, Small and short, without jaw or much temple hair, From childhood the person has no genuine learning; Food and clothing are meager and no more is added. Moon-Bei should be high, not low; Its flourishing brilliance is glazed crystal. In office it surely has the look of a loyal minister; The final ruler brings high office and a good wife. Moon-Bei Palace narrow and pointed Means household wealth ruined early, followed by this copy's affairs-being-fitting phrase. How could an official enjoy glorious office and stipend? Bei's position at birth brings years of difficulty. The star lords Luo and Ji should be refined and long, Distinct, close against flesh, responding to the Three Yang. This appearance not only holds official employment; Kindness and duty are manifest, their name spread far away. Sparse Luo and Ji and high, raised bones Mean a hasty nature fond of fierce boldness. Sexual misconduct has the form of drooping willow; Brothers of one womb have whorled hair. Sun and Moon distinct, resembling Greater Yang, Spirit and brilliance alike are strong. If not appointed chief minister at court, An official should still occupy a high place as vice minister. Sun and Moon peering sideways, scarlet crossing the pupils, Solitarily exposed and further without spirit: Yin withered and yang declining mean death by the blade; Do not expect long life: the text predicts an adverse end. The Six Storehouses The Six Storehouses are the two auxiliary bones, two cheekbones and two jawbones. They should be full and mutually supporting, not disjointed or exposed alone. Secrets of the Numinous Terrace says: the upper two run from Auxiliary Corner to Heavenly Storehouse; the middle two from Life Gate to Tiger Ear; the lower two from shoulder bone to Earth Storehouse. Six full, upright storehouses without defects, mottling or scars mean flourishing wealth. Steeply raised Heavenly Storehouse brings much wealth and stipend; square, proportionate Earth Storehouse vast fields. Deficiency is unsuitable. The Three Powers and Three Divisions The Three Powers are these: forehead is Heaven and should be broad and round, called possessing Heaven, which gives rank; nose is Human and should be flourishing and even, called possessing Human, which gives longevity; chin is Earth and should be square and broad, called possessing Earth, which gives wealth. The forehead adjective is written with a noisy/busy graph in this copy. The Three Divisions are also described thus: hairline to Seal Hall is the Upper Auxiliary, the early ruler; Mountain Root to Nose Tip is the Middle Storehouse, the middle ruler; philtrum to Earth Storehouse is the Lower Auxiliary, the final arrival. Another definition gives hairline to brows as upper division, brows to Nose Tip as middle, and Nose Tip to Earth Storehouse as lower. Formula: A long upper division brings auspicious flourishing in old age; A long middle division brings proximity to king or emperor; A long lower division brings little auspiciousness. Three equal divisions mean wealth, rank, glory and distinction; Unequal divisions mean isolation, early death, poverty and low station. Verse: Examine the face's Three Divisions carefully; A high forehead requires a broad Ear Gate. The School Halls' three sections are followed by a damaged Wu/can-be phrase; Literary accomplishment alone may still bring no office. A raised nose bridge like a suspended gallbladder is favored; Shortness means middle-age life does not last. Full Earth Storehouse brings abundant fields; Level, broad Heavenly Court brings flourishing descendants. The Four School Halls First, eyes are the Official School Hall. Long, clear eyes indicate official position. Second, forehead is the Stipend School Hall. A broad, long forehead indicates official longevity. Third, the two teeth directly at the front gate are the Inner School Hall. Straight, even and close, they indicate loyalty, trustworthiness, filial devotion and respect. Gaps, defects and smallness indicate much arrogance and presumption. Fourth, the area before Ear Gate is the Outer School Hall. Fullness, radiance and moistness before the ears indicate intelligence. Dimness describes a foolish person, with an irregular tooth graph in the phrase. The Eight School Halls First, the School Hall of the High and Bright Region: A round head, or unusual bone raised aloft. Second, the School Hall of the High and Broad Region: The forehead has the supplied boldness wording, without misplaced bone, rising square. Third, the School Hall of the Radiant and Great Region: Seal Hall level and bright, without scars or injury. Fourth, the School Hall of the Bright and Refined Region: The eyes' light is dark in abundance, spirit concealed within the supplied person-wording. Fifth, the School Hall of the Intelligent Region: Ears with rims and contours, red, white and yellow. Sixth, the School Hall of Loyalty and Trust: Teeth even, close and regular, white as frost. Seventh, the School Hall of Broad Virtue: A tongue long enough to reach Nose Tip, red with long lines. Eighth, the School Hall named Ban-Sun in this copy: Rising across Heavenly Center, fine, refined and long. If these eight School Halls are present, Life has wealth, rank and abundant auspiciousness. School Hall Verse Carrying zither and books upon the back, yet gaining no name: The School Halls lack position and sink the Three Divisions. If the one Philtrum position gives no response, Years are spent in vain among court ministers. The next line speaks obscurely of no office and a Lesser Guardian person; The Theft Gate has blue-green qi and netted lines. If much red qi appears upon the nose, Alas for futile toil and wasted hardship. The next damaged Moon-School/pointed wording also brings lost wealth; Early years bring wandering and still more disasters. No one speaks of the official-door/tongue phrase; Only former worthies discerned it through physiognomy. General Discussion of the Human Face Heavenly Court should rise, Minister of Works be level; Upright Center broad, Seal Hall clear. Mountain Root unbroken, Year and Longevity moist; Nose Tip round and fleshy, philtrum deep. Mouth like the character four, Receiving Fluids broad; The supplied Earth-Offering region turns homeward and storehouses respond. Forests round and full, Traveling Horse abundant; Sun and Moon high and broad, Borderland quiet. Yin and Yang full of flesh, Fish Tail long; Cheekbones opening to the front have spiritual light. Orchid Court round and upright, Law Lines unobstructed; Golden Coffer and Sea Corner develop a little yellow. Three Yin and Three Yang neither withered nor sunken; Dragon concealed and tiger hidden, appropriately matched. Five Peaks and Four Waterways without restraint or breakage: Then one sees the source's marriage-or-minister phrase among people. But slanting, skewing and collapse, Dark qi and dim spirit, bring torment. Spiritual light upon the face shoots into others' eyes; For a man, rank as duke or marquis; for a woman, as empress. Forms of the Five Phases Earth Star is the nose. Nose Tip should be full and substantial, both nostrils unexposed, Year and Longevity level, full, straight, upright and raised without deviation. Such a person has not sunk Earth Star. The supplied Life-allotment-and-three-portions phrase indicates fortune, stipend and longevity. If Central Peak, Earth Star, is not upright, Nose Tip pointed and exposed, and moreover high, the person has sunk Central Peak and Earth Star. This indicates poverty, low station, little household property and an inward disposition lacking uprightness. Verse: Earth Lodge upright and round, like a cut bamboo slip; Large hearth-gate openings mean the Three Excellencies. Orchid Terrace and Court Commandant respond, Surely bringing reputation to the sage ruler's hearing. Crooked Earth Lodge suffers bitterness; A pointed, thin Nose Tip means isolation and poverty. Seen from the side, hooked like an eagle's beak, The source attributes inward plotting and harm to others. Beneath Purple Qi Star is Seal Hall: distinct, without straight lines, round as a pearl, it indicates rank. Silver-like whiteness indicates great wealth and rank; yellow food and clothing. Narrowness, unevenness and hidden lines are unfavorable. There may be two or three children, but they provide no support; there is no substantial stipend, and fields and houses are lost. Verse: Broad and round within Purple Qi Palace, Facing and attending the imperial ruler, an outstanding worthy; Orchid Terrace and Court Commandant respond, And the final ruler brings official glory and abundant money. Narrow and pointed within Purple Qi Palace, Small and short, without jaw and with still fewer sons, From childhood the person has no genuine learning; Food and clothing are meager, with no further increase. Greater Yin and Greater Yang are the eyes. Black and white should be distinct, both eyes long and fine, extending toward the temples, with more black than white and radiant brilliance. Such a person is born with the two yin-and-yang stars shining upon their life. Affairs all go smoothly, and close kin all attain rank. Less black and more white, with yellow and scarlet color, sink the two stars: the source predicts harm to parents, wife and children, lost fields and houses, many disasters and short life. Verse: Sun and Moon distinct are Greater Yang; Spirit and brilliance alike are strong. If not appointed chief minister at court, An official should still rise high as vice minister. Sun and Moon peering sideways, scarlet crossing the pupils, Worse still, solitarily exposed and without spirit: Yin and yang withered and dark mean death by the blade; Do not expect many years: the text predicts an adverse end. Moon-Character Star is Mountain Root. Descending directly from Seal Hall and splitting open means, in this wording, encountering Moon-Luan shining upon the allotted life. A sunken Mountain Root indicates adverse prospects for descendants, many dangers and disasters, unsuccessful study and cultivation, lost property and harm to wife and children. Verse: Moon-Luan should be high, not low; Its shining brilliance resembles glazed crystal. In office it surely has the look of a loyal minister; The final ruler brings high office and a good wife. Moon-Character Palace narrow and pointed Means household wealth ruined early and affairs tormenting one another. How could an official enjoy glorious high stipend? The Character position at birth brings years of difficulty. The Luo and Ji Stars are the brows. When these two are thick and black, extend past the eyes and enter the hair at the temples, this is a form of clothing and stipend. Children and parents all attain rank; relatives too are described with a graph for responsibility rather than rank. The two stars enter the allotted life. Joined brows extending across, scarlet and additionally short, indicate that close kin and children often meet an adverse death. Verse: Wood is thin, Metal square, Water governs fullness; Earth form is solid and substantial, the back like a tortoise. Pointed above and broad below is called Fire: Consider carefully these five human forms. Wood's color is blue-green; Fire's is red; Earth yellow, Water black: these are their true appearances. Only Metal form carries white; The five colors are not the same. Verse: Blue-green means worry; white means mourning; Black means grave illness and official trouble. For advancement in office and added joy, Look for the supplied yellow-related wording and radiance filling the face. Discussion of the Five Phases in Physiognomy Human beings receive essence from Water and qi from Fire and thus become human. After essence joins, spirit arises; after spirit arises, form becomes complete. Thus what is complete outwardly has the forms of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth, and those of flying birds and walking beasts. Metal does not object to squareness, Wood to thinness, Water to fullness, Fire to pointedness, Earth to turbidity. Resembling Metal and obtaining Metal means deep firmness and resolution. Resembling Wood and obtaining Wood means sufficient lending-or-wealth in this copy's wording. Resembling Water and obtaining Water means rank through literary learning. Resembling Fire and obtaining Fire means decisiveness upon perceiving an opportunity. Resembling Earth and obtaining Earth means substantial storehouses. Therefore, fullness and substantiality with dignity and restraint mean wealth or rank. The source's shallow-ditch wording with lightness and dryness leads to poverty or the supplied Heaven-wording. A woman's qi should be harmonious and pleasing, her appearance dignified and ordered: such a person, the text says, will be wealthy or high-ranking. Text notes: This record preserves all supplied subsections and repeated verses, including their differences. The two Mount Heng names use different Chinese graphs. The Central Peak line includes a cheekbone graph. The Waterways list's mouth-name is damaged, while the later prose has Huai-Mo. The hearing-opening, round-eye lifespan, nose-size, fish-mouth, current-class, qi-er, School Hall and general-face phrases contain irregular words; uncertainty is retained rather than repaired from another edition. Moon-Luan, Moon-Character and Moon-Bei render this copy's differing graphs, without asserting they are different astronomical bodies. The Six Storehouses quotation really gives shoulder bone for the lower boundary, while its opening list gives jawbones; both remain. Both schemes for the Three Divisions and both forms of the repeated nose, Purple Qi, eye, brow and Moon verses remain. Historical status, moral, sex, illness and lifespan claims throughout belong to this source, not established assessments of a person. On Form Human beings receive the qi of yin and yang, resemble the forms of Heaven and Earth, and receive the resources of the Five Phases, becoming the spiritually discerning among the myriad beings. Thus the head images Heaven; feet image Earth; eyes image sun and moon; voice images thunder; blood vessels image rivers; bones and joints image metal and stone; nose and forehead image mountains; fine hair images grasses and trees. Heaven should be high and far-reaching; Earth square and substantial; sun and moon bright; thunder resounding; rivers moist; metal and stone firm; mountains branching; grasses and trees refined and flourishing. These are the general outlines. Guo Linzong's Eight Methods for Observing People are of this kind. Text note: Branching follows the supplied mountain word; the Eight Methods are mentioned but not enumerated in this record. On Spirit Form nourishes blood; blood nourishes qi; qi nourishes spirit. Thus when form is complete, blood is complete; when blood is complete, qi is complete; when qi is complete, spirit is complete. A short form can therefore nourish spirit by entrusting itself to qi and finding repose. If qi is unsettled, spirit becomes violent and unsettled. Who but the cultivated person can settle the spirit? The source says that in extremity spirit travels in the eyes, while in sleep it resides in the heart. Form's emergence and dwelling are expressed through spirit, which becomes form's outward manifestation, as sun and moon cast light outward upon the myriad beings while their spirit remains within them. Bright eyes mean clear spirit; dim eyes turbid spirit. Clarity means rank, turbidity low station. The supplied sleep sentences say: with clarity one lies down much but sleeps little; with turbidity one sleeps little but sleeps much. By considering a person's sleep, one may know their rank or low station. As for the realms of dreams, spirit travels within the heart. However far it travels, it does not go beyond the five viscera, six bowels, and the gates of hearing and sight. Its traveling realms and the events it sees either arise through mutual intensification or arrive upon encountering events; they too are what our own body possesses. What is seen in a dream is within our body, not outside it. The White-Eye Chan Master says dreams have five realms: first, the numinous realm; second, the treasure realm; third, the realm of the past; fourth, the realm of the present; fifth, the realm of the future. When spirit is distressed, dreams arise; when spirit is still, the realms vanish. Looking at a person's form, one may find it freely clear, radiantly bright, or concentrated and weighty. All these issue from spirit within and appear at the surface. Spirit that is clear, harmonious, thoroughly bright and refined is called a sign of wealth and rank. Dimness and weakness, turbidity and constriction are called signs of poverty and low station. When substantial and still, spirit is settled; when empty and hurried, spirit is distressed. Text note: The contradictory sleep wording is preserved rather than silently repaired. Treasure realm follows this copy. These statements express the source's account of spirit, dreams and status. Seven Qualities of Spirit in Physiognomy Concealed without being darkened: concealed means not exposed; darkened means without spirit. Settled without being foolish: settled means not shaking or moving; foolish means unable to adapt. Manifest without being exposed: manifest means rising and unfolding; exposed means frivolous and flighty. Clear without being withered: clear means spirit impresses itself forcefully upon others; the next, irregular word is explained as spirit being dead. Harmonious without being weak: harmonious means approachable; weak means easily bullied. Angry without being contentious: anger means upright qi; contention means the source's tear qi. Firm without being isolated: firm means worthy of respect; isolated means objectionable. Verse: Spirit resides within form and cannot be seen; Qi nourishes spirit and is life's root. With vigorous qi and harmonious blood it is settled and secure; With blood dried and qi dispersed, spirit's light runs away. An outstanding, clear and refined bearing makes heart and spirit bright; Harmonious qi and blood keep spirit from dimness. Spirit's clarity or turbidity is form's outward manifestation; For determining rank or low station, this is most worthy of discussion. Text note: Where the heading says withered, the explanation has a graph meaning to pick or hold; its given explanation is retained. Tear qi likewise follows the supplied graph, without silently replacing it with another term. In the last verse, the contrast with turbidity gives the sense of clarity despite another irregular graph. On Abundance of Form Abundance of form means a round, substantial crown; full, raised abdomen and back; a broad, square forehead; red lips and white teeth; round ears with formed rims; a straight nose like a gallbladder; eyes with distinct black and white; refined, sparse, long brows; substantial shoulders, upper arms and navel region; a level, broad chest; a round abdomen hanging downward; upright walking and sitting; Five Peaks rising toward one another; proportionate Three Divisions; smooth flesh and fine bones; long hands and square feet. Seen approaching, the person is imposing; seen departing, pleasant and composed. All these are called abundance of form. The text says abundance of form gives long life without illness and the glory of wealth and rank. On Abundance of Spirit Abundance of spirit means clear, lustrous eyes; glances that do not slant; refined, long brows; an elevated, active spirit; a clear complexion; and expansive movements. Openly viewed from afar, it is like an autumn sun shining upon a frosty sky. Stately when seen nearby, it is like a gentle breeze stirring spring flowers. Resolute in handling affairs, it is like a fierce beast striding through deep mountains. The next phrase speaks of distant emergence at a spring, like a cinnabar wind soaring along cloud paths. Sitting, the person is unmoving as a boundary stone; lying down, like a roosting crow that does not go far. Walking is expansive as the flow of level water; standing is lofty as a solitary peak rising. Words are not uttered recklessly, temperament is not rashly agitated, joy and anger do not disturb the heart, glory and disgrace do not alter integrity. A myriad appearances crowd confusedly before the person, yet the heart remains constantly one. This may be called abundance of spirit. Those with such abundance are described as persons of the highest rank: adverse disasters can hardly enter their bodies, and Heaven's stipend endures to their end. Text note: The supplied spring-emergence phrase is unclear, and cinnabar wind uses the graph for wind, not phoenix. The crow clause literally concerns not being distant. These readings are retained without importing a reconstructed version. On Deficiency of Form Deficiency of form means a pointed crown, described with the source's rush-plant graph; narrow, sloping shoulders and upper arms; spare, thin waist and ribs; short, cramped elbow joints; thin palms and widely spaced fingers. A damaged phrase concerns lips and forehead. The nose turns upward and the ears turn outward; waist is low and chest sunken; one brow curves and the other is straight; one eye looks upward and the other downward; one pupil is large and the other small; one cheekbone is high and the other low; one hand has lines and the other none. The next clause says eyes open while spitting. Speech has a woman's tone. Teeth are yellow and exposed; the mouth smells foul and is pointed. The crown is bald without abundant hair; eyes are so deep-set their pupils cannot be seen. Walking is oddly slanted; complexion is withered and timid. The head is small and the body large; the upper part is short and the lower part long. This is called deficiency of form. The source associates it with frequent illness, short life, meager blessings, poverty and low station. Text note: The crown adjective, lip-and-forehead phrase and spitting clause are irregular as supplied. In particular, the last has the graph for spitting, not sleeping; no corrected edition is silently substituted. The source's gendered and bodily judgments are historical assertions. On Deficiency of Spirit Deficiency of spirit means seeming drunk while not drunk, always as if ill from wine; seeming sorrowful while not sorrowing, always as if troubled. A damaged clause says not spitting, seeming asleep; circling sleep, immediately waking. Seeming to weep while not weeping, always as if frightened. Seeming angry while not angry; pleased while not pleased; startled while not startled; foolish while not foolish; afraid while not afraid. Bearing and movement are dim and disordered, complexion turbid as if stained. The next clause describes convulsive illness and a bleak, distressed expression, always as if suffering a great loss; bewilderment and alarm, always as if terrified. Speech shrinks back as if ashamed and hiding; the face is downcast as if humiliated. Color is fresh at first and then dark; speech is quick at first and then halting. All this is called deficiency of spirit. The source says such deficiency often attracts imprisonment and disaster, and, in the closing office-or-palace clause, also loss of position. Text note: The sleep passage contains the supplied spitting and circling graphs and is not silently reconstructed. Other irregular words in the bewilderment and closing office/palace clauses are translated only as far as this copy permits. The text's illness and fate associations are historical claims, not a modern diagnosis.

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