Appearance

To describe someone's physique, Chinese uses a surprising verb: 长 zhǎng, “to sprout, to grow”. 他长得很高 tā zhǎng de hěn gāo, literally “he has grown in a tall way” ⟶ he is tall. So 长得 zhǎng de means “to have such-and-such a physique”, and 长相 zhǎngxiàng is “the look you took on while growing” ⟶ your features. Careful: the same character is read cháng when it means “long”, as in 长发 chángfà, long hair. Body parts, 头发 and 身材 included, are on the page The body.

Second surprise, a more cultural one. 你胖了 nǐ pàng le “you've put on weight” is no insult coming from a Chinese aunt: it is an observation, sometimes even a compliment (you eat well, so you're doing well). That said, young city dwellers take it less and less kindly. The language also keeps a delightful euphemism for middle-age spread: 发福 fāfú, literally “to come into fortune”.

Standards of beauty, for their part, can be read in the vocabulary. A proverb says 一白遮百丑 yì bái zhē bǎi chǒu, “a fair complexion hides a hundred ugly traits”: pale skin, 白皙 báixī, is still an ideal, hence the parasols in high summer. But the tanned complexion, 小麦色 xiǎomàisè, “wheat-coloured”, is gaining ground among young people (I couldn't tell you whether this is a real change in taste or a magazine fad). Same thing for the eyes: the creased eyelid, 双眼皮 shuāng yǎnpí, is so sought after that it has become the subject of a very common cosmetic operation.

For faces, Chinese prefers images. 瓜子脸 guāzǐliǎn, “melon-seed face” ⟶ a fine oval tapering towards the chin, the face of the beauties in old paintings. 国字脸 guózìliǎn, “a face shaped like the character 国” ⟶ a broad, square face, the face of film heroes. Writing serves as a template.

颜值 yánzhí is much more recent: 颜 “face” + 值 “value” ⟶ the beauty score, a word born on the internet that has since passed into everyday language. 土 tǔ, “earth”, has for its part taken on the meaning of “countrified” ⟶ uncool, tacky. Still, be careful who you say it to.

As for the last section, it gathers the characters of the theme that live elsewhere. 美国 Měiguó does not mean “the beautiful country”: 美 comes from 亚美利加 Yàměilìjiā, the transcription of “America”. The meaning “beautiful” no doubt played a part in the choice of character, but it is first and foremost a sound. And the page The five senses explains why 五官 also refers to the features of the face.

Click on any character on the page: its stroke order is shown stroke by stroke, with the arrow that gives the direction of the movement.