Taoism & The Five Elements
Mien Shiang — Face Reading — is a diagnostic tool of Chinese Medicine. The roots of Chinese Medicine are Taoism and the Taoist Five Elements. TAOISM is a philosophy, a way of looking at and living life in nature, in a continually changing balance of energy and experience. The ancient Taoist philosophers used the metaphor of the Five Elements, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water, to explain the relationship, interaction, and ongoing change of everything in the Universe. The metaphor was used first to describe the evolving cyclical seasons by dividing the year into five phases—Spring, Summer, Late Summer, Autumn, and Winter. The monks assigned each season an Element that would illustrate the essence of the seasonal changes and interactions, including the relationships between seasons. These associations were later applied to every aspect of life: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
Think how wonderful it would be to have a reliable and unfailing skill that could help you to
- Discover your true nature
- Recognize your innate gifts & challenges
- Relate more genuinely to family, friends, & colleagues
- Choose the best love relationship, boss, employee, friends
- Recognize the signs of ill health
You can achieve all of this and much more simply by knowing the ancient art and science of Mien Shiang – Taoist Chinese Face Reading.
Previously Executive Vice President of design and development, Old Navy, Gap, Inc.
Mien Shiang—Face Reading and Facial Diagnosis
from THE FACE READER by Patrician McCarthy, Penguin Group/Dutton 2007
Mien Shiang is a nearly 3000-year-old Taoist practice of an art and a science that literally means face (mien) reading (shiang). If you know Mien Shiang (pronounced myen shung), you can determine anyone’s character, personality, health, wealth potential, social standing, and longevity simply by looking at their face.
How Mien Shiang Can Help You in Your Everyday Life?
One of our most primitive instincts is the search for self-discovery. Who am I? This is the question that has occupied the thoughts and emotions of philosophers, poets, and dreamers everywhere, for all time. Mien Shiang can help you in your search for self. By looking in the mirror and studying your face, you can develop a profound understanding of your true nature. Identifying your true nature helps you first to recognize your inborn gifts and challenges, and then how to balance them to live your life, every single day, to its fullest. Mien Shiang can also give you similar insights into everyone in your life. It can help you choose your true mate and find the best boss or hire a top employee. It can make all your family, professional, and social relationships smoother and richer. And, by knowing the significance of certain facial markings, Mien Shiang can help keep you healthy—it might even save your life.
The Origin of Mien Shiang
Ancient Taoist monks were the healers, scholars, and advisors to the emperors in China. They were the first to use Mien Shiang centuries ago. These monks used Mien Shiang as a diagnostic tool to determine either an existing illness or an inherent susceptibility for particular mind, body, or spiritual ailments and imbalances. We now live in a world of instant information. But 3000 years ago, people could easily misrepresent themselves or their mission to the courts of the land. Consequently, court officials relied on the opinions of their Mien Shiang advisers regarding a stranger’s character, personality, potential strengths, and weaknesses. The monks knew from experience that the face is a mirror that records your past, reflects your present and forecasts your future.
Patrician speaking at the 99U Conference on “Making Things Happen”
Books
Through the Chinese Art of Mien Shiang
Face Reading & Facial Diagnosis
The Mien Shiang Institute offers courses and workshops in Face Reading to anyone who wants better to understand themselves and everyone else in their lives. Facial Diagnosis courses and workshops are available to health care professionals.
Face Reading
Face Reading is the study and practice of analyzing the face to determine personality and behavior traits from a Taoist Five Element perspective and how those might affect the overall health of mind, body, and spirit.
Facial Diagnosis
Facial Diagnosis is a more in-depth study geared towards health care professionals. In addition to determining personality and behavioral traits, Facial Diagnosis identifies medical conditions and interprets those ailments and imbalances from a Taoist Five Element perspective.