Livia Kohn is a scholar of Taoism, and this is her peer reviewed article, published in the journal Asian Folklore Studies, examining the Mirror of Auras, a physiognomy manual traditionally attributed to the tenth century Taoist figure Chen Tuan, alongside the wider debate over which physiognomic texts can actually be credited to him. Its strength is careful textual and attributional scholarship, Kohn treats Chen Tuan's authorship as a genuine historical question to be argued rather than assumed, examining the manuscript and attribution evidence directly. Its limit is that it is a focused article on this one text and this one attribution question, so a claim about Chinese physiognomy or face reading practice more broadly, beyond what this specific manual and its contested authorship can support, needs a wider source on the tradition as a whole.
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A peer reviewed journal article from Asian Folklore Studies, published by the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture, on the tenth century Taoist Chen Tuan and the origins of Chinese physiognomy. NotesAsian Folklore Studies, vol. 47, no. 2, 1988, pp. 215 to 256. Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture, Nagoya. Covers Chen Tuan, the tenth century Taoist credited as a founder of Chinese physiognomy and traditionally taught by the legendary Hemp Robed Master, Ma Yi.
Citation
AuthorLivia Kohn
PublisherAsian Folklore Studies
Publication Year1988
URLhttps://asianethnology.org/article/148681.pdf
Source TypeJournal article
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Chen Tuan directly: "to the tenth century Taoist figure Chen Tuan, alongside the wider debate over which physiognomic texts can actually be credited to him."
Claims Backed By This Source (54 claims)
This source backs 54 claims across the atlas. As facts: 43 well-attested. As cited relationships: 1 holds. Plus 10 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Face Regions, 25 claims: 20 well-attested, 5 general references.
- Articles, 20 claims: 15 well-attested, 5 general references.
- Sources, 9 claims: 8 well-attested, 1 holds.
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