Fu Manchu moustache

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File:The Face of Fu Manchu.jpg
The Fu Manchu moustache, as worn by the eponymous fictional character.

A Fu Manchu moustache or simply Fu Manchu is a full, straight moustache that originates on the corners of the mouth and grows downward past the clean-shaven lips and chin in two tapered "tendrils", often extending past the jawline.[1] An expansion of the Fu Manchu sometimes includes a third long "tendril" descending from a small patch on the chin.

The Fu Manchu moustache derives its name from Fu Manchu, a fictional character British/Irish author Sax Rohmer, who is shown wearing such a moustache in film adaptations of Rohmer's stories. The literary Fu Manchu did not wear a moustache. The famous facial hair first appeared in the British serial The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu (1923); the Fu Manchu moustache then became integral to cinematic and television stereotypical depictions of Chinese villains.

The Fu Manchu is a category of competition in the World Beard and Moustache Championships.[2][3]

The facial hair style is often used to stereotype Asian, more specifically Chinese, ethnicity. Many caricatures of Chinese in the 19th and early 20th century depict Chinese with such facial hair.

Confusion with horseshoe moustache

The Fu Manchu is similar to (and commonly confused with) the horseshoe (or "biker") moustache; the difference between the two types is that the Fu Manchu is grown exclusively from the corners of the upper lip, creating two long "tendrils" that hang down past the clean-shaven mouth and chin area. The horseshoe simply involves growing the hair on either side of the lips and chin along with the mustache, thus creating the inverted-U or horseshoe shape, with none of the hair hanging over the jawline.

A true Fu Manchu is considerably more difficult and time-consuming to produce as compared to the horseshoe; one mustache-centered publication declares "You probably don't know anybody who has a [real] Fu Manchu."[4]

See also

References

  1. www.americanmustacheinstitute.org Mustache Styles Retrieved Jan 30, 2011
  2. www.worldbeardchampionships.com 2009 Results – World Beard and Moustache Championships January 12, 2010. Retrieved Jan 30, 2011
  3. www.worldbeardchampionships.com www.worldbeardchampionships.com Results – 2010 European Championships – Leogang, Austria October 8, 2010 Retrieved Jan 30, 2011
  4. http://www.getkempt.com/high-and-tight/the-fu-manchu-vs-the-biker-mustache.php