The only feature that sits at the center of all three systems — the Five Peaks, Four Rivers, and Twelve Palaces.
The nose is the Simbyeongwan (審辨官, Office of Discernment) among the Five Offices — the seat that weighs and discerns. But the nose has already come up twice before: as the Central Peak of the Five Peaks, the Nose Passage of the Four Rivers, and now the Wealth Palace of the Twelve Palaces. It's the only feature that's the center of all three systems.
It comes down to position. The nose stands at the very center of the face — a single pillar, dividing left from right and connecting top to bottom. That's why people in the past read the nose as "where this person's own standards stand". The line that separates what's yours from what's someone else's — that's exactly what carried through into the name Wealth Palace.
The nose really only shows properly from the side, more than head-on. Turn your head with a mirror to the side, or take a profile photo to check.
What you pick gets saved, and we'll bring it all together in the final Overview chapter. You can always change it later.
If the bridge is the skeleton of one's standards, the nostrils and tip show how those standards actually get used. This is also the spot traditionally weighted more heavily when reading the Wealth Palace.
Head-on, the flesh on either side of the tip flares out with some fullness, and the nostrils barely show.
This tends to be a steady type who holds onto what comes in and manages a household well. Tradition read this as a sign that the storehouse holding one's wealth is sturdy.
The sides of the tip stay narrow and the whole nose has a lean, tapered line.
This tends to be a spare, no-frills type who spends without waste and focuses where it's needed. It was read as having the strength to dig deep into one thing rather than spread wide.
Facing the mirror without tilting your head back, the nostrils are clearly visible.
This tends to be an open type who is candid, easygoing, and generous with people. It was read as a tendency to open both heart and wallet freely.
The tip is round with enough flesh that it feels soft when pressed.
This tends to be the type who takes people in and brings things to a smooth close. Tradition read this shape as carrying deep fortune and prosperity.
The tip narrows to a clear, defined point.
This tends to be the type with clear standards and quick judgment. It was read as a tendency not to let ambiguous situations drag on.
In profile, the tip angles downward.
This tends to be the cautious type who tests the stones before crossing the bridge. It was read as having a sense for spotting a losing situation ahead of time.
There's the most widespread misconception about the nose we should clear up here — the idea that "a big nose means a lot of money". That's not actually what the classics said. They didn't look at the nose's size, but its balance — whether the bridge stands straight, whether the nostril wings support the tip well, and whether it works well with the rest of the face.
The same principle from the Five Peaks chapter applies here too — not whether one spot looks good, but whether the five work well together. If the face is small but the nose alone is big, the classics actually read that as standing alone and isolated. Scoring the nose in isolation, apart from everything else, isn't really gwansang.
For reference and entertainment, based on traditional physiognomy. It doesn't rank appearances or reveal a fixed fate.