SEOUL, April 21, 2015 - Physiognomy scholar Sang-Jin Rho was the guest speaker for Asia Society Korea Center’s April Luncheon Lecture. Face reader Rho, who has been studying physiognomy for more than 30 years and has 3 different MA’s in the area, opened by saying he can read a person’s face in just 0.4 seconds. Rho broke down his lecture into answering 5 common questions that people have about physiognomy: What exactly is face reading? Why Koreans are so interested in physiognomy? What is fate and are we destined to live a certain life? Is it possible to change our fate by getting plastic surgery? Does the face of a king or leader actually exist?

Rho explained that being able to read a face is something that you are born with and is related to yin, yang and the 5 elements. There are two ways to read physiognomy; looking at the face itself and examining everything else that one does. In terms of the face, it is the facial expressions, balance of the face and position of the eyes, nose, mouth and ears which are analyzed, while the way you walk, or how you sit and speak are aspects of everything else. So why are Koreans so interested in having their face read? Rho talked about how there are 5 different kinds of greed that humans are born with: money, fame, food, sleep and future. It is this greed for the future that leads people to wanting to know their fate and to the consulting of face readers.

So what is the difference between fate and destiny? Rho went on to explain fate as luck whereas destiny is determined by the personality that we are born with. This personality includes our gender, how we look, our body, family wealth, illness and career. Fate means how our destiny is controlled by the environment that we are living in, and physiognomy is looking at this fate and destiny to predict the future. Many Koreans are turning to plastic surgery to change their appearance but Rho believes that this will never change their fate. Fate is related to the mind and heart, and surgery cannot change this no matter how many procedures one has as none of these surgeries can change a personality. If one wants to change their fate, they should change their way of thinking through praying or religion, not changing how they look.

Rho finished his lecture by examining if the face of a leader really exists. He said that there is no face that is born to be a leader as this has already been determined by destiny. A person must be born with the face of a leader at the correct time, something determined by fate. What came out through the answering of these questions was that it is the heart and mind that determines our future and that our fate and destiny cannot be altered through changing ones appearance, but by changing the way of thinking. The entertaining lecture was brought to an end with the face-reading of some of the attendees and the distribution of Rho's book.
 

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