Face Reading 面相
面相 physiognomy maps the face into twelve palaces and a hundred positions. Answer a guided set of questions about your features and read what the tradition associates with each.
麻衣相法 · 3,000-year art
Face Reading 面相
In Chinese physiognomy your face is a map of fortune — the forehead rules early life and career, the nose is your Wealth Palace (財帛宮), and the chin governs late-life prosperity. Read yours below.
📜 The origin of 面相 ›
Face reading (面相) is a pillar of Chinese 相術, systematized over two thousand years and preserved in classics such as the 《麻衣神相》(Ma Yi Shen Xiang) and 《柳莊相法》. It divides the face into the Three Stops (三停) — three life stages — the Five Officers (五官), and the Twelve Palaces (十二宮), each governing an area of destiny. Imperial physiognomists advised emperors on whom to trust and promote.
Optional · view the face map on your photo
A guide overlay of the Three Stops & Five Officers. Your photo never leaves your device.
上停 · early life
中停 · prime (財帛)
下停 · late life
Select your features
The twelve palaces of the face
Chinese physiognomy divides the face into twelve palaces — Life, Wealth, Siblings, Property, Children, Health, Travel, Friends, Career, Fortune, Parents and Appearance — each mapped to a region. The forehead carries early life, the mid-face the middle years, the chin and jaw later life.
Within those palaces the tradition reads specific features: the shape of the nose for the wealth palace, the space between the brows for capacity, the ears for early fortune.
How to use a physiognomy reading
Read it as a description of tendency, not a verdict. The tradition itself holds that 相由心生 — the face is shaped by the heart — meaning character forms the features over a lifetime rather than the features fixing the character.
This tool asks you to describe your own features rather than uploading a photograph, which keeps your image entirely out of our hands.
Common questions
Do I need to upload a photo?
No. Nothing is uploaded. You answer questions about your own features and the reading is built from your answers.
Is this scientific?
No. It is a traditional interpretive system with long history, and we present it as exactly that.
Does surgery change the reading?
The tradition is divided on this and we won’t pretend otherwise. Read what you have now.