下停 · 地閣
Chin · Jigak (Earth's Pavilion, 地閣)
The final zone of the atlas: the chin. Traditional gwansang called everything from under the nose to the chin tip the lower zone (hajeong, 下停), and at the very end of the midline it placed jigak (地閣), ‘earth's pavilion’.
A chart that began at heaven ends at earth. Fitting for the last seat, tradition loaded it with late-life stories; psychology explains why a first impression like ‘a determined jaw’ keeps hardening.
Editorial markA plate for examining the names a culture placed on the face.
Location plate
The full stop of the face
On the plate the lower zone runs from under the nose to the chin tip, the bottom third that holds the mouth and jaw. Its frame is the mandible, the bone that finishes the outline of a face shape.
The last two labels of the thirteen-part midline are seungjang (承漿) below the lower lip and jigak (地閣) at the chin tip. The chart that opened with ‘heaven's center’ on the forehead closes with the character for earth: the heaven-human-earth worldview drawn straight onto a face.
- Plate label
- 下停 · 地閣
- Anatomical term
- chin and jaw (mandible)
Name and tradition
Earth's pavilion and the late-life stories
In the three-zone gloss carried by the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture's gwansang entry, the lower zone was paired with later life, which is why sayings like ‘a generous chin, a generous old age’ came down as the customary line.
In the five-peaks chart the chin is said to stand for the northern mountain. All of this placement is an old map drawn on a face, and the shape of a chin is not used to settle anyone's later years or character.
Psychology in contrast
Confirmation bias, the impression-hardener
In his 1960 number-rule experiment (the 2-4-6 task), psychologist Peter Wason showed that people mostly test cases that fit their hypothesis and rarely hunt for ones that would break it. The tendency is called confirmation bias.
Once a first read like ‘a strong jawline, so a determined person’ takes hold, you notice what fits and wave away what does not. A first impression hardening into ‘proof’ may not be evidence piling up, just matching evidence being counted.
Texts and research
Sources for this plate
- Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, ‘Gwansang’ entry: the three-zone (lower zone) gloss
- The seungjang (承漿) and jigak (地閣) labels of the thirteen-part midline chart (Mayi lineage, as customarily transmitted)
- Wason (1960), Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology: the 2-4-6 task and confirmation bias
Terms and further reading