In Mandarin Chinese, 心 (Pinyin: xīn 🔊) has a number of meanings, all of which are ultimately derived from “heart”. Lawrence J. Howell writes in his Etymological Dictionary of Han/Chinese Characters:
A depiction of a slender object encompassed in the heart of another object → mind; breast; center; core; thought; consideration; meaning; taste; spirit; sincerity; emotion; feelings.
In my opinion, this description (of “a slender object”) suits better to one of its radical forms, ⺖, rather than to 心 itself.
I think that 心 is much better representation of human heart than the Western symbol ♥ which does not look like heart at all. Uncle Hanzi says that 心 is “the human torso showing breasts, stomach and navel, now meaning heart”, many historical forms of this character appear to show completely different human organ. In any case, it turns out that 心 on its own refers not to anatomical heart — that would be 心脏 (xīnzàng 🔊) — but to “heart-mind”. Allow me to explain.
Western popular culture (including popular philosophy and popular psychology) tends to differentiate between “heart” (i.e. emotions) and “mind” (i.e. thought) for no good reason. This contrasts with concepts of heart-mind typical for Oriental cultures, such as Sanskrit चित्त (citta). On purely physiological level, we feel emotions with our brain, not heart; it could be that in the East they knew it all along for thousands of years.
In Japanese, 心 is pronounced kokoro (🔊).
百なりや 千代
Hyaku nari ya tsuru hitosuji no kokoro yori A hundred different gourds, |
It is said that Chiyo, the most famous of women haiku writers, was asked by the Zen Master of Eiheiji Temple to illustrate in a haiku the teaching that a thousand meanings come from one thought. The above verse is the parabolic expression of this Zen principle (which is that of Mahayana Buddhism).
More photos related to heart, hanzi and calligraphy @ Shutterstock.
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