孔子的長相 His personal profile
(Proper nouns such as name of a person, titles, name of a book, feudal state, and places will be included as Chinese in order to keep the correct reference. A brief note to explain may be followed immediately. Since I do not have the reference book on standardized Pinyin, I have no choice but to use the phonetic either from the computer or from other sources.)
孔子的長相如何，在二千五百年後的今天，的確無法回答。當時又沒有人為他繪像，更不要說照片了。一切是依靠傳說或記載。據《史记·孔子世家》所記載，“生而首上圩頂” ，就是說他的頭蓋是中凹的，有如山谷。換言之他的頭頂有如兩座山。因此他被命名為丘。這是附會或是實情，現在無可考證，連他的弟子也沒有提及他的面貌。不過，自從漢代孔子受尊崇後，有很多畫家，根據典籍，為孔子繪了不少畫像。那是真的或想像中的，由各人判斷好了。看來，只有與他同年代的人才可以證實這些畫像。
It is impossible to tell the exact facial feature of Confucius now; particularly it is some 2500 years after his time. Since his portrays were not available, certainly there were no photographs. We have to depend on legendary sayings or written records. Based on the record in The Noble Confucius Family recorded in the History Archive (《史记·孔子世家》, the top of his head was concaved in at birth. That is to say the crown of his head was sunken in, like a valley. In other word, his head looked like two hills. Therefore, it is believe why he was named as Yau (which means Hill). Whether it was a fact or an implication, it is not possible to confirm it nowadays; even his disciples did not mention his facial appearance. Since he was respectfully honored from the Han Dynasty on, many artists drew his portray based on the official documents. It is now up to a personal judgment to decide the authenticity. It looks likely only his contemporaries would be able to confirm these paintings.
孔子從成為人們心目中的聖人那天起，人們為了表達對他的敬仰，從而神話孔子，說異人自有異相。故後世的孔子畫像簡括為七露：唇露齒，眼露睛，鼻露孔，耳露窿，其醜無比。根據《史記 孔子世家》記載，孔子「其颡似堯，其項類皋陶，其肩類子產，然腰以下不及禹三寸」。但是那些人也是沒有畫像可以根據。史記中又載，孔子高九尺六寸，如果是真的話，他是個很高的人，但是這說法也有異人異相的可能。現在所傳的畫像是照七露說法而成。不過長期從事研究孔子的孔子研究院副院長孔祥林先生認為，孔子是一位相貌堂堂的人。孔子的形象是否異人異相，是否九尺六寸高，看來是不重要，因為他的成就，早已超過異人的尺度。
Since the day when he became the most holy person in the mind of everybody and in showing their respect, Confucius profile became a mythical image, based on the idea that an exceptional person should have an extraordinary facial features. Therefore those portrays drawn afterwards includes SEVEN PROTRUSIONS: buckle teeth, bulging eyes, exposed nostrils, and protruded ear channels --- in fact a very un-comparable ugly face. Based on the record in The Noble Confucius Family in the History Archive (《史记·孔子世家》), the forehead of Confucius was similar to Emperor Yiu (堯帝), his neck was in the same category as Gao Tao (皋陶, a judge in the era of Emperor Suen), his shoulder is similar to Ji Chan（子產，a high rank official in the State of Jeng, 鄭國, famous on his political skill, one of the few praised by Confucius）and his waist below was three inches shorter than Emperor Yu (大禹 ) . However those mentions figures had no life portrays as reference neither. As record in the History Archive (史記), Confucius was nine feet six inches tall. If it was true, he was a very tall person, within the shade of an exceptional person. (The measurement standard may not be the same as nowadays.) The current official portray of Confucius is the one with seven protrusions. However, per Mr. Kong Xian-Lin the vice department head of the Confucius Research Institute and long term researcher on Confucianism, Confucius was a very handsome person with a dignify face. It is not important now whether Confucius was neither having exceptional facial features nor over nine feet tall; his achievements are way over the scale of exceptional.