黑心
hēi xīn · HSK 7
ruthless and lacking in conscience
🖤 黑 black + 心 heart = a black heart: ruthless, no conscience
Literal compound of 黑 (black) and 心 (heart/mind). A blackened heart is the stock metaphor for cruelty and greed in Chinese; the pottery sense (black core) is a hidden flaw baked inside the clay.
黑 — top 里 over 灬 (fire) — soot from flame
Originally a pictograph of a person whose face was blackened by smoke from a fire, with the lower 灬 representing flames and the upper part showing soot stains. Over time the form was regularized into the modern shape, and the meaning broadened from 'soot-blackened' to the general color black.
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.