心 /忄/ ⺗ （xīn；heart）

心 is a pictograph. The ancient form of it looks like a picture of the heart with its four chambers. When心 is used as a radical on the left side of a compound, it is written as 忄. 心 also occurs at the bottom of a compound, where it is written either as 心 or ⺗. The heart stops we die. In ancient China, people thought the heart was the source of al mental activity. Therefore, characters with the 心 radical tend to relate to thoughts and feelings such as 思想 (sī xiǎng；thinking）, 感情 (gǎn qíng; feeling), 思慕 (sī mù; to admire).