心里
xīn li · HSK 2
mind
❤️ 心 (heart) + 里 (inside) = inside the heart, i.e. in one's mind
心 means heart; 里 means inside or within. Together 心里 literally reads as inside-the-heart, used for inner thoughts, feelings, and the mental space where you hold things privately.
心 — pictograph of a heart with chambers and aorta
心 is a pictograph showing a stylized heart, with strokes representing the organ's chambers and the aorta at the top. Originally meaning the physical heart, it broadened to cover mind, feelings, and intentions, since ancient Chinese thought located thinking and emotion in the heart.
里 — 田 (field) + 土 (earth)
Originally a pictograph combining 田 (field) and 土 (earth), depicting cultivated land where people lived. It came to mean 'village' or 'hometown,' and by extension a unit of distance (about 500 meters). The 'inside' meaning is borrowed; that sense was traditionally written 裏 or 裡.