Wan mian, threading the face
Fine down is twisted off the face with two strands of silk. The time before a wedding is called opening the brow; it is done again at the month after a birth.
Pronunciation wǎn miàn｜Rites of life｜One entry in the Chaoshan glossary
What it means
Two strands of silk are crossed and twisted and drawn flat against the face, lifting the down from cheek and brow by the root. It is done mostly by an aunt or a neighbour the family knows, sitting in the doorway, one end of the thread held in her teeth and the other taut in her hand.
Before a wedding it is done once and called kai e, opening the brow, meaning that the girl is now awake to the world and fit to run a household. It is done again on the month-old day, and only after it may the mother move about outside her room; a third time at four months.
When you see it
At the two ends of life: once before a wedding, once at the month after a birth, once again at four months. Not on ordinary days, and not a beauty treatment in the everyday sense.
Words easily confused
Kai e names only the pre-wedding session and carries the sense of opening the understanding; the one after a birth is simply wan mian. Nor is it the same as the shaving of the head — one works on the face, the other on the crown.
Read next: Chaoshan marriage: from the first approach to the return visit.
See also: Birth rites: the month-old shave and the first taste of meat, Rites of life: the five thresholds side by side.
Same group: the dressing of the hair, the betrothal meal, the woman who sings the verses, the woman of good fortune.
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Last revised: 4 November 2026