Physiognomy: Sanpaku

(Initially part of an article speculating on the purpose of some historically popular forms of artificial cranial deformation – grew too big and has now been hived off and expanded. I have been working on articles but due to being both 1. An obsessive completionist and 2. Unable to narrow my scope very well, every attempt to write something inevitably spirals off into a million tangents/questions of foundations, etc. etc.  ACD article next.)

===The Meaning of Sanpaku

Friends I have always wanted to appear on daytime talkshows as a body language expert and here the first bold step toward that dream is taken. Here are some old summaries of sanpaku I dug up:

Meet your own eyes in the mirror and tilt your head up – your forehead recedes, your chin sticks out, you’re looking down your nose, and the whites of your eyes may be visible at the top (“upper sanpaku”). Tilt your head down and the opposite happens (“lower sanpaku”). Consider the correlation between headtilt and confidence (Upward = More, Downward = Less) – this largely carries to sanpaku, as each is impossible below/above neutral headtilt respectively (assuming level gaze).

(As an aside, a good way to practice physiognomy if you’ve got an intuitive grasp of it is to make faces in the mirror and articulate to yourself how they make you feel – you are your own laboratory!)

===UPPER SANPAKU SIGNIFIES:

Upper sanpaku is also called Yang sanpaku – active, masculine, positive. Upper sanpaku is a simpler signal than lower, connoting far less:

1. Wakeful/Excited/High-energy: For me, the upper sanpaku does not happen if I relax my eyelids – they have to be wide open, wide awake.
2. Aggressive/Dominant/Threatening/Violent: All that energy might be coming your way if you don’t watch out!
3. Erratic/Wild: It may do anything!
4. Surprised/Shocked/Apalled: Accompanied by pursed lips (Freeze and don’t make a sound) or mouth agape (widen eyes, get a big breath to run/scream). Consequence of drawing head back (“reeling”), which naturally cranes it upward

==EXAMPLES

(Top to bottom, then left to right:

1. Salvador Dali: Steady intensity, shock expressing unfamiliarity, perhaps stern judgement; intended to produce self-consciousness, defamiliarisation of self – surrealist art as facial expression.
2. Charles Manson: Asymmetry connotes instability. Almost-invisible smile connotes effortless confidence – “It’s your move.” Combination: “I am ready for anything, you can’t predict my response, give up.”
3. Jimmy Saville: Wild good funtime man having a good time. Lack of eyescrunch means false smile, which when combined with upper sanpaku means predatory assertion of dominance.
4. Callista Gingrich: I am not sure why people choose to look like this. One has to ask what went wrong when and where for this photo to happen. The ravages of plastic surgery; the American will to REBUKE AND CONTROL THE FLESH.
5. Anonymous Stockphoto: I included a photo of this aggressive, birdlike woman to demonstrate the “excitement” mode of upper sanpaku.

===LOWER SANPAKU SIGNIFIES:

Lower sanpaku = Yin sanpaku – passive, feminine, negative. Associated qualities:

1. Tired/Low-Energy: Bored, exhausted, sickly; tired in general or tired of something – head tilts lower as energy decreases (“Nodding off”). Stress and fatigue cause lower sanpaku, which makes sense – if you’re tired and weak, you want to signal that you’re not a threat so you don’t get into conflicts you’re not capable of winning.
2. Serene/Relaxed: This is weak sanpaku accompanied by small smile and mild upward headtilt. (Weak sanpaku is: Deviation of pupil from centre of eye’s visible portion, but not so far that it reveals the 3rd white)
3. Submissive/Nonthreatening: A look of surrender. Lower sanpaku + smile = bedroom eyes. Eyerolling (which results in lower sanpaku) was until recently regarded as an expression of lust in the Eurosphere, and a vertical eyeroll (as opposed to circular – connoting tiredness, disgust – looking away from something connotes disgust) is still associated with intense enjoyment (eg. Orgasm). Why this is, I may consider in another article.
4. Incredulous: Tilt head down, smirk, raise one eyebrow: 1. eyes alert = “Really?” (Interesting expression – half smile, half frown); 2. eyes tired = “When in God’s name will it end?”. Consider the phrase “Tired of your bullshit.”
5. Determination/Perseverance: Consider this in terms of tiredness – wanting to get something done, or pressing on despite exhaustion. You could also look at it as the result of leaning the whole body forward; leaning toward, leaning in, barrelling toward something.
6. Earnest: Consider as a kind of submission – acknowledging the need for verification, submitting your evidence to another’s consideration. “I’m telling the truth!”, “I can’t force you to believe me so have mercy.”
7. Dreamy: Inward, sleepy, semi-conscious.
8. Troubled/Brooding: Mouth typically pursed, tight.

==EXAMPLES:

 

From left to right, row by row:

1. Jordan Stephens of Rizzle Kicks, author of ‘Toxic masculinity is everywhere. It’s up to us men to fix this.’ Stephens does hip-hop, which explains why his head is tilted up. Lower-sanpaku = low-energy, uptilt = confidence. Low status/”humble” (“from the STREETS”), but self-assured, pragmatic, decisive when necessary. (As a rule, the higher your headtilt, the sleepier you have to look to avoid upper sanpaku.)
2. Jack Unwin, author of a study into “toxic masculinity”. Unwin’s face can only be described as “inert”, like a baseball suspended in saline. Someone has asked a depressed child to smile for the camera at Christmas. A man who has known disappointment, and learned not to fight.
3. Cover art for Guenon’s King of the World: Brilliant illustration of a noble, earthy spirituality: short, wide head with blunt, rounded features (earth; balance, stability); upturned chin (nobility; confident, high-status) and serene rounded eyes staring off into obscure spiritual distance (distance signifies mystery, unfamiliarity – conditions ripe for awe).
4. Relaxed, amiable – laid-back. Similar to Stephens above. Lower sanpaku (nonthreatening) and wide smile (inviting) suggest JFK is a people-pleaser (easy to say knowing he won presidency, though). “If only you knew how bad things really are” expresses the sense of burdens, tiredness and disappointment inherent in JFK’s face and in presidency.
5. Alex De Minaur, included because watching him play helped me realise lower sanpaku was present in looks of determination.
6. Land is provisionally submissive (lower sanpaku/downward angle on head/lower headtilt), but he looks like he’s got something over you (wide, alert eyes) – cunning (“I know something you don’t know”). Bags under eyes suggest confidence derived from long nights spent poring over occult tomes. Could begin cackling, laughing maniacally at any moment. (“I have a special plan for this world”)
7. Carey is dominant, contemptuous, but tired and sickly… A face of incredible power; lugubrious, worm-eaten wisdom. The world is a bad joke and Carey’s the only one in on it. He never actually held this face for more than a moment, but it’s remarkable how well it sums up the tone of the interview.
8. Brooding, troubled, beautiful – the appeal of men like this is that although they’re beautiful, the eyes signal low self-opinion (ie. Attainable, potentially codependent/obsessive – susceptible to the compassion of a woman). “Stay away from me, I’m dangerous! I’ll ruin your life!!”,  “This is the skin of a killer, Bella”, etc. – dangerousness signifies capacity to protect. “Stay away from me” signifies lack of susceptibility to women in general, and therefore less competition if attained. An archetypal love fantasy. 9, 10, 11 & 12 (Dean, Brando, Dafoe & Leto) are pretty much the same thing (“Damaged” – it’s all there). Dafoe is the synthesis of Dracula and Brando (I have always loved Willem Dafoe’s cavernous face; monumental gothic neolithicism; only actor to play Christ and Nosferatu.)

===PLAN FOR FACEREADING CHART

Must make a chart of all this with corresponding faces and descriptions. Axes:

1. Sanpaku (Pupilheight?)
2. Headtilt: Up/down, horizontal.
3. Necktilt: Craned or upright.
4. Eye openness (+ Upper/Lower? + Eyescrunch?) – sly, conspiratorial – concealing eye movement means concealing the objects of your intent.
5. Browheight (+ Symmetrical? + Furrowed?)
6. Mouth angle (+ Teeth visible? + Mouth open?)

Question then is how to represent more than 2 variables on a 2D chart? Due to small degree of variation (5, let’s say), simplest solution seems to be to attribute specific symbols to each degree, eg. Red/Orange/Yellow/Green/Blue, Circle/Line/Triangle/Square/Pentagon, etc. Other solution would be to make multiple charts with one variable or a set thereof pre-set for each.

===FOR FUN: Hitler Sanpaku

The Many Moods of Hitler

From left to right:

1. Dreamy, unfocused (consumed with inner visions?), tired, bored, contemptuous
2. Barely there. Aristocratic look. Etiolated ascetic, French decadent painter.
3. Bored socialite/successful artist looking at an attractive chandelier, daydreaming in dull company.
4. The dreaminess is retained and supplemented by a look of steely determination. He woke up and kept dreaming. Marvellous lighting – earthy face disappears into ethereal forehead. This look is why I chose Hitler – the only place I’ve seen something similar is in De Minaur above.

===BONUS analysis of alternative cover art for Guenon’s Lord of the World:

Faceless embodiment of spiritual realities: the typical role of the face (marker of individuality) as locus of detail (distinguishing characteristics: identity) is taken over by the halo (symbol of spiritual attainment) – the halo bears the figure more than he bears it. The effect is archetypal. Contrast the earthy clay tones with the spiritual deeps of the flowering purple.