随心所欲
suí xīn suǒ yù · HSK 7
to do as one pleases
💃 随心所欲 = follow (随) + heart (心) + that-which (所) + desire (欲): follow whatever the heart wants
Literally follow-heart-which-desire. 随 means to follow or go along with, 心 is heart, 所 marks the thing, and 欲 is desire — together: act on whatever your heart wants, doing as you please.
随 — 辶 (walk) + 阝 (mound) + 有 phonetic
随 combines the walk radical 辶 with a phonetic component derived from 隋. The original sense is 'to follow along a path,' from the walking radical suggesting movement after someone. Over time it broadened to mean 'follow,' 'accompany,' or 'comply with.'
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.
所 — door 戶 (left) + axe 斤 (right)
Originally a sound: an axe (斤) chopping wood near a door (戶), with 戶 also hinting at the pronunciation. Over time it was borrowed to mean 'place' or 'location,' and later became a grammatical particle nominalizing verbs ('that which…'). The concrete 'chopping' sense faded entirely.