Xiangli Hengzhen: Chen Zhao, Ten Juan and the 1833 Edition
A bibliographical introduction to Xiangli Hengzhen, checking the Chen Zhao attribution and the 1833 ten-juan edition recorded with Tianjin Library scans.
Contents · 5
*Xiangli Hengzhen* (《相理衡真》) belongs to traditional Chinese physiognomy literature. A useful introduction should identify the particular edition before describing its contents. Labels such as “ancient classic” or “complete edition” are not substitutes for bibliographical information.
Revised 2026-10-24: the attribution and ten-juan record have been checked. The date 1833 is now identified as the recorded printing date, rather than an established composition date. Unsupported biography and modern assessment claims have been removed.
What the record establishes
The Wikimedia Commons records for booklet 1 and booklet 3 describe a work in ten *juan*, attributed to the Qing author Chen Zhao (陳釗). They identify an edition printed in the thirteenth year of Daoguang, 1833, in ten booklets housed in one case. The source information identifies Tianjin Library material and links it to the National Library of China’s ancient-book resources.
*Juan* describes textual divisions; booklets describe the physical binding of this particular set. These units should not be conflated. The upload date is also unrelated to the historical printing date. Commons supplies an access point to the scans and their description; it should not be mistaken for the institution holding the original.
Printing is not composition
The record supports the date of this printing. It does not, on its own, tell us when the manuscript was written, whether this was the first printing or how later editions changed it.
An author’s courtesy names, collecting activities and editorial motives need separate evidence from a preface, internal attribution or reliable biography. This revision retains the catalogue-supported name without filling those gaps with an unverified life story.
Reading and comparing copies
Questions worth investigating include how bodily regions are named, how diagrams relate to text and how appearance is connected to social position and predicted fortune. These are research questions, not a claim that every chapter of all ten booklets has been collated in this review.
For a citation, record the booklet, *juan*, leaf and side. Compare title pages, prefaces and contents before comparing individual predictions. Notes, illustrations or vernacular explanations in a modern edition do not automatically belong to the 1833 printing. A quotation found online should be checked against its scan for omissions and context.
Limits of this introduction
The book can inform research into physiognomy, bodily concepts and historical classifications of knowledge. Establishing its date and attribution does not validate predictions about character, lifespan or life events, or supply a medical or psychological assessment method. Similar claims in other divinatory systems are not independent confirmation.
LamjinLab has not completed a leaf-by-leaf collation of the entire set. Further chapter-specific claims will require their own references. Related material is listed in the physiognomy index.
Checked sources
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