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Chapter 52 of 110
柳庄神相
"A youth without buttocks achieves nothing; ancestral fields are hard to keep, and one breaks from the clan and leaves his roots." In youth, if the buttocks are thin and lacking flesh, it indicates that one's foundation is not yet solid and one lacks staying power — nothing is easily accomplished, the ancestral farmland and property are difficult to preserve, and ultimately one squanders the family legacy and strays from the clan.
"In old age without buttocks — hardship and toil; wife dies, children scatter, one drifts through the mortal world." In old age, if the buttocks are withered and fleshless, it indicates a bitter and laborious late life — the wife passes away, children are separated, and one wanders through life in ceaseless flux.
"A thin person without buttocks learns much but achieves little; a fat person without buttocks scrapes the pot and washes the bowl — no wife, no children, lonely and destitute." For a thin-built person, lacking flesh on the buttocks means much study but little accomplishment — talent without results. For an overweight person lacking buttock flesh, poverty reduces one to scraping the pot's bottom and washing empty bowls — no spouse, no children, a life of solitude and destitution.
"Thus the buttocks should be open, moist, and broad — not pointed or delicate." Therefore, buttocks that are wide-set, lustrous, and generous in form are auspicious; pointed and thin forms are to be avoided.
"The classics say: sunken chest with protruding buttocks means discord between father and son. If a woman has this feature, she is a vicious and malicious wife." The physiognomy classics state: A concave chest paired with prominently jutting buttocks indicates an estranged father-son relationship. If a woman bears this configuration, she is deemed a fierce and unkind wife.
Supplementary treatise on women's physiognomy: "Narrow waist, pointed buttocks, and deep navel — she serves as a bondmaid in lonely poverty; if the nipples are furthermore pale white, a lifetime of solitude is destined." An attached verse on female physiognomy says: A slender waist, tapered buttocks, and a deeply sunken navel indicate servile status, loneliness, and poverty. If the nipple color is also whitish, a life of solitude is foretold.
It is also said: "There is no noble lady with pointed buttocks." Another saying goes: A woman with pointed, narrow buttocks can never attain the status of a distinguished lady.
"For an upright and virtuous woman: the chest should be broad, not protruding; the waist round, not slender; the nipples dark, not pale; the navel deep, not shallow; the hair black, not yellow; the flesh fine-textured, not slick; the eyebrows curved, not raised; the back high, not sunken; the face round, not pointed; the eyes elongated, not wide." A proper and virtuous lady's physiognomic standard is as follows: the chest should be expansive rather than prominent; the waist rounded rather than tapering; the nipples deeply pigmented rather than pale; the navel deep-set rather than shallow; the hair jet-black rather than sallow; the flesh delicate in texture rather than slippery smooth; the eyebrows gently arched rather than sharply raised; the back tall and straight rather than slumped; the face full and round rather than angular and pointed; the eyes narrow and elongated rather than large and round.
"These are the general principles — if one of these conditions is violated, she cannot be considered a good and virtuous wife." The above constitutes the general framework for assessing a woman's physiognomy. Should she violate even a single one of these criteria, she cannot be counted among the benevolent and worthy women.
This chapter takes buttock morphology as its observational focus, holding that the buttocks represent the "later-formed aspect" — a reflection of one's later years and ultimate achievements. The core ideas can be summarized as:
The correspondence between buttocks and life stages 🔍
Traditional physiognomy maps body regions to life phases: the face governs early years, the torso governs middle age, and the buttocks and legs govern old age. As the body's primary weight-bearing and seating area, the buttocks came to symbolize "capacity for bearing," "accumulation," and "reserve strength." From a contemporary perspective, "lacking buttocks" can be read as:
The historical context of female physiognomy 🏠
The ten criteria for the "virtuous woman" in the latter half of this chapter were constructed against the backdrop of patriarchal expectations of female roles in ancient society. Criteria such as "nipples dark rather than pale" or "navel deep rather than shallow" blend ancient aesthetics, fertility assessment, and moral projections. In modern reading, we must be clear:
Traditional wisdom in body management 💪
Setting aside superstitious elements, "the buttocks should be open, moist, and broad" contains a reasonable kernel:
A reference dimension for reading people and self-awareness 🧭
The dialectic of "later-formed" and "earlier-formed" ⚖️
The idea that "the buttocks are formed later" carries an implicit philosophy of time — distinguishing what comes before from what comes after, roots from results. Youth is read through the "earlier-formed" (the face, the forehead); old age, through the "later-formed" (buttocks, legs). This treats the human body as a dynamic system across a temporal axis rather than a static image. This way of thinking resonates with the traditional Chinese medical view of life as a continuous arc from birth through growth, maturity, aging, and decline — a reminder to approach personal development from a dynamic, whole-life perspective.
The metaphor of "bearing capacity" 🏔️
In traditional culture, the buttocks carry a sense of "bearing" — bearing the body, bearing the family enterprise, bearing fortune and blessings. This symbolic association links physical traits with life responsibilities. Its underlying logic runs parallel to the philosophical proposition of "深厚载物" — "with ample depth and breadth, one can carry greater magnitude and destiny." The pointed, thin form is thus read as the outward sign of shallow virtue.
| Concept | Core Meaning | Connection to This Chapter |
|---|---|---|
| Three Sections (San Ting) | The face is divided into upper (early fortune), middle (mid fortune), and lower (late fortune) proportions | The buttocks belong to the extension of the "lower section," governing late-life fortune |
| Five Peaks and Four Rivers | The face's five mounts (forehead, nose, chin, cheekbones) and four rivers (ears, eyes, mouth, nose) | Analogous "geographic" mapping in physiognomy |
| Bone vs. Flesh Xiang | The distinction in physiognomy that "bone governs rank; flesh governs wealth" | "Moist, broad" buttocks pertain to flesh characteristics, which denote prosperity |
| Ten Signs for Women | A systemic summation of female physiognomic standards | The latter half of this chapter is a concentrated exposition of these ten signs |
| The Back–Buttocks Relationship | The back governs prestige and rank; the buttocks govern wealth and progeny | Together, they constitute the "rear body" physiognomy |