Face Reading Governor 曾国藩 Zeng Guofan

Zeng Guofan 曾国藩. He was born in a poor family. As a youth, he was notorious for living drunkenly and even experimenting with opium; choices he would later renounce as he became an ardent military man.  Later he became a literary scholar and devoted to Confucius classics. He has profound interest in writing, knowledge, poem and books. At the age of 37 he became the military vice minister. At the age of 54 he lead an attack and managed to take down the 太平天国 Taiping Rebellion in the Tianjin capital. At the age of 56 years he became the governor of two province.

Zeng Guofan is a very famous military general in the Qing Dynasty. At the age of 58 years old his career & status is at the peak. His success is attributed to many factors. It was said that he is very good in face reading. He wrote a book called “bing jian” 冰鉴, another book is “xiang ren que” 相人缺 so he is being known for his good ability in utilizing people. He is able to group multiple capable and skilled people beside him as his acquaintances. They will strategize and plan for him.

He is superb in observation of voice and facial movement together with body language and face features. He will judge when he is having a conversation with them. As he has a high post many would like to serve under him. Whenever interviewing he will sit quietly to observe them for a lengthy time. Some would feel nervous and uncomfortable. He would later note down all his observations. He would record everything in detail. He is able to groom many subordinates. He has even wrote formulas on face reading below are some excerpts;-

正 Good or 邪 Evil look at the 眼 eyes
真 Genuine or 假 Fakes look at the 嘴唇 mouth
功名 Achievements look at the 氣概 charismatic spirit  
富貴 Wealthy look at the 精神 vitality
主意 Decisiveness look at the  指爪 handgrip
风波 Crisis look at the脚筋 leg stance

His book  相人十二法 “xiang ren shi er fa” describes 12 classification of face & body language

 Six Good features 美 “mei”

1^st must be lengthy 長 “chang”
2^nd must be healthy yellow 黃 “huang”
3^rd must high spirited 昂 “ang”
4^th must be tighen 緊 “jin”
5^th must be stable 穩 “wen”
6^th must be balanced 稱 “cheng”

Six Bad features 惡 “e”

1^st must not be rustic 村 “cun”
2^nd must not be faint 昏 “hun”
3^rd must not be stored 屯 “tun”
4^th must not be restless 動 “dong”
5^th must not be impulsive 忿 “fen”
6^th must not be evasive 遁 “dun”

He can observe the good and bad points of people when they are talking. He differentiated Four official categories into different characteristic temperament. These four types may not be independently successful but they are good for substantial contribution to mankind and few may have significant impact and high status.

Type one 讲道理之人 “Principled Person” -  Humble, easygoing, peaceful and perseverance people in mind and heart. Calm, logical, considerate, persistent, objective, accurate and will investigate thoroughly and detail. They handle with appropriateness and systematically.

Type two 讲事理之人 “Logical Person” –  Quick, flexible, adaptable and good at handling trouble. Uphold responsibility, ambitious, power craving and like to independently change the environment and history. They handle based on logic and not personal.

Type three 讲义理之人 “Ethical Person” –  Cultured, caring, traditional, trustworthy and regulated person. Will focus on self cultivation, commitment, moral, discipline and values.  Cherish reputation, status, social image and hate evil people. They are inflexible, slow to accept new and unfamiliar.  They handle based on morals, reservation and conservativeness.

Type four 讲情理之人 “Sensible Person” –  Streetwise, responsive, quick to change and adapt according to situation. They follow their own feelings and methods. They are proud, illogical and unconstraint by rules and social norms. They handle with passion, fast and unconventional.

Zheng Guofan becomes an expert in people management and positioning because of his is in depth people observation skills and experience.  If he was to recommend anyone to the officials he will choose the ones that they have matching style but humble. He prefers the types that are capable and knowledgeable and not braggart. Constantly observing and referring to his notes that he recorded to determine a person’s position (Job Profiling).

He was also known for his strategic perception, administrative skill and noble personality. Till date nobody is comparable to him yet.
Science of Body Language & Face Reading knowledge do exist and are being utilized by the sages and officials many years way before our time!! www.ziweidoushubazi.blogspot.com July 2014