… and that thick ears signify greater wealth

EDITOR,—James A Heathcote's cross sectional study of 206 patients, in which he measured the length of the subjects' ears, leads him to conclude that older men have larger ears.1 This observation may confirm ancient beliefs. In particular, it is believed in Chinese culture (and also evident in Chinese literature and traditional grandmothers' tales) that studying a person's facial features may reveal a vast amount of information regarding that person's personality and may yield forecasts of prosperity, longevity, and mishaps. In this respect it is believed to be important to study the features of the forehead, eyebrows, eyes, nose, ears, lips, and teeth closely together to give an accurate forecast of the person's destiny.

The ear, in particular, is believed to predict one's prosperity and longevity. Unlike in Heathcote's study, in which the whole length of the ear was measured, the ancient Chinese believed that each part of the ear represented a different prospect. For example, the length of the earlobe denotes long life, and thickness means greater wealth. It is also said that the longer the ears the more noble the person will be. For example, kings and emperors of old China are all said to have had extremely long ears (as does the statue of Buddha). The founder of the minor Han dynasty in AD 221, Liu Bei, is also said to have had ears reaching to his shoulders and could see his ears by glancing back over his shoulders.2

Heathcote's study has confirmed the fascination of the Chinese art of studying facial features. One important point is that the individual facial features studied are unique (and should not be studied after artificial alteration—for example, some African tribes are unlikely to have long lives just because their earlobes have been artificially lengthened by the wearing of heavy metal earrings). Prospective studies are indicated to confirm the causal association between longevity and big ears.