Page:Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills.djvu/200

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Ma i (麻衣) hsiang fa, Liu chuang (柳莊) hsiang fa and Ta ch'ing (大淸) hsiang fa are well-known books on this science.

Internal physiognomy is called nei hsiang, which includes a study of the fæces, voice, etc., and the external physiognomy, w'ai hsiang, includes a study of the bones; hair growing in ears, nose and eyebrows; colour of the face, etc.

Face physiognomy, mien hsiang, includes the study of the San t'ing (亭) wu kuan, the three divisions of the face and the five organs. The san t'ing are the t'ien t'ing or brow, the chung t'ing or nose, the hsia t'ing or chin.

Shou hsiang, or palmistry, deals with the chiu kung (九宮) or nine places where there is fulness round the palm of the hand, upon which much stress is laid.

The science is based on the following ten characters, which are supposed to represent ten types of Chinese face:—

Yu (由), weak brow; chia (甲), chin weak; shên (申) chin and brow weak; t'ien (田), lacking brow and chin; t'ung (同), mouth prominent, chin lacking; wang (王), equally balanced, jaw lacking; yüan (元), jaw strong, nose weak; mu (木), brow weak, jaw strong; yung (用), strong, but chin lacking; feng (風), a strong face.

It is the geomancer's work to select the site for a house; the direction in which it faces must not disagree with the life star of the owner. He decides how and where the doors and windows are to be placed; and which way it should be approached; hardly ever by a straight road. He also selects lucky days for beginning the foundations, for beginning the carpentry work, for putting up the frame-work; and above all, the lucky day and hour for hoisting the top beam on the roof. On this occasion the workmen have extra money, a feast, and the rest of the day free from work. He fixes the position for a burying place, and the way a grave will face. Traffic in the