Monday, December 17, 2012
இ Baŋäŋaz இ
Do you think with your head or act with your heart? It has been a long tradition we connect the mind with the brain. Other than the heart being a muscular organ, the size of a fist weighing about 300 grams that pumps blood, the MDBG Chinese Dictionary also defines heart as mind / intention / centre / intelligence. So what the heck a heart has a mind or just a figure of speech? No argument here but to follow this saying 'follow your heart' where heart is driven by love and the analytical head is driven by logic and analytical.
Let's start the heart pumping with characters where its very common for Chinese in encompassing the heart to express emotional feelings. Frequently used words such as 'be careful' 小心xiǎo xīn literally *small heart*; 'worry' 擔心dān xīn lit. *carry heart*; 'relax' 放心fàng xīn lit.*release heart*; 'faith' 信心xìn xīn lit. *trust heart*. In a state of 'happiness' 開心kāi xīn lit.*open heart* and 'sadness' 傷心shāng xīn lit. *injured heart*. There will be a never-ending 星星心心知我心 xīngxing xīn xīn zhī wǒ xīn lit. *stars heart heart knows my heart*. Guess the word 心xīn *heart* has to stop here am afraid some are beginning to see stars already.
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| source:www.chineseetymology.org |
On the left is the etymology of the Chinese character 心xīn *heart* a close resemblance of a muscular heart. One will often hear this popular inspiring greetings in Chinese pinyin when wishing someone's success ~ 心想事成 xīn xiǎng shì chéng *lit. heart think matter/affair succeed* an equivalent to 'may your wishes come true'. Wonder if ever the movies maker decides to film another Star Wars sequel will they include this scene where Yoda in his squinty eyes softly utter to his new Chinese Jedi "May The Force 心xīn *Heart* Be With You".
Can the heart really dictate one’s actions? Here is an excerpt from scienceray.com "According to the Institute of Heartmath, Dr J Andrew Armour first introduced the concept of a functional 'heart brain' in 1991. His work revealed that the heart has a complex intrinsic nervous system, contains around 40,000 neurons that qualifies it as a 'little brain'. The heart communicates with the brain in ways that influence how we perceive and respond to stimulus coming from the outside world. The heart can even cause the brain to obey its commands hence has a mind of its own."
So can elements of a person's character - or even their soul - be transplanted along with a heart? One woman who believes this is to be the case is CLAIRE SYLVIA after she was given the organs of an 18 year old boy, who was killed in a motor cycle accident. "I was given a young man's heart - and started craving beer and Kentucky Fried Chicken. My daughter said I even walked like a man" ~ Claire Sylvia :Bananaz's Beleaf It Or Nought
Thought supposed to stop mentioning 心xīn *heart* however this is something not to be missed. The above word is "ài," the traditional Chinese character that clearly explains 愛 *Love* which has to be a combination of both the 心xīn *heart* and situated right in the middle of the word 受shòu *accept*. Any idea why a person with a broken heart is tossing and turning on bed all night long? The answer lies in the broken heart itself as the jagged edges of the heart keep poking at the body. Anyway enjoy the Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus below.
Posted in: heart
93 Bunchesஇ:
For the brain to function it is necessary for the heart to pump properly. Greetings.
I always thought the mind and the brain were one and the same, it looks like i was mistaken. Had to laugh at what Claire Sylvia said i believe it nought.
So many 心 today! ;)
Very interesting post!
poetry and words have truth
Aloha from Honolulu, my Friend
Comfort Spiral
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Such a short post from Bananaz this time but enlightening nonetheless. :)
心 - kokoro in Japanese for heart, mind, spirit. ^^
I think I tend to follow the heart more than the brain for my actions hence the havoc I usually cause doing things impulsively most of the time. xD
I was kind of confuse sometimes. Brain is to think, heart is to feel. Not too sure whether I have got it right this time. To me, I must use my brain to think and process all the information, then only I allow my heart to take the action.
the heart is actually the core of our body and mind, without the heart to pump blood to the brain, we can't live either..
one interesting fact is that love in traditional chinese is written as 愛 with a heart in it, but the simplified chinese takes off the heart and only becomes 爱, the bottom become 友 which is just friends..
I like that quote "follow your heart". Our hearts really have desires and we need to fulfill them if it's worthwhile.
I'm the follow my heart kinda person. My hubs on the other hand, always think a thousand steps ahead before deciding on something >_<
world is just a book of mystery, as well as life,
heart is never intended for use to feel but still you know deep in your soul that love is coming from the depth or your heart
I find Chinese characters very interesting in that they are not only in art-form but if one studies each part of it, you will find that a word is made up of certain elements.
Take love, for instance, like what SK said. The original word has a heart. That is why I'm more for retaining the original form than the shortcut because the latter loses the word's actual meaning.
As for art-form, don't you think the word 'heart' somehow looks like the shape of a heart? Other examples, the word 'mountain' looks like the outline of a mountain and 'bird' is a bird outline.
If the heart doesn't play a part in our decision-making, then we'd be thinking like a robot, only using logic and no feel.
Great post, Bananaz! I like!
Aiya... you mentioned so many hearts.
But you forgot "flower heart" 花心
How could that be ah?
Leovi இ Yes they go hand in hand just like night and day
Windsmoke இ Somehow the heart takes over
Hayley இ So many many 心 here is not equal to 花心 haha
Cloudia இ Aloha from the 心 heart
lina இ tQ learned a new Nihonjin word today - kokoro. Guess most ladies would use the heart. No?
Yan இ Me too would say head for thinking with logic and heart for feeling with emotion.
SK இ Yalor tQ you said it well cannot figure out that word. Now the simplified character without the heart love is not that deep but merely as friends only.
wenn இ Sometimes may be dangerous to only just follow the heart coz that is emotional & not rationale.
Merryn இ So both compliment each other to have best of both worlds and also worst of both worlds if not handled well haha.
Mecoy இ So we now know heart should not be neglected besides pumping blood it has a mind.
HappySurfer இ Absolutely the etymology truly like the shape of the heart. Oops should added the pixz in this post. My sweetie Mango often face conflict between the head & heart during shopping. So Bananaz always keep reminding her.."buy what you need and not what you like" as a first filter. She is a shopholic haha.
London Caller இ Bananaz not flower heart 花心 one haha. Got added in the pixz itself you missed it bro.
Phạm Minh Tâm இ tQ for dropping by, have visited your blog sorry not too well verse with the translation part, any tips?
wah, you've touched so many hearts today. I often pay attention to my instincts which I believe is God’s way of guiding me what to do in any given situation.
Happy Monday!
Brain and heart are too far apart.
It is difficult for them to get synchronized.
LifeRamblings இ Play by instincts and gut feelings with help of Higher self. Happy Monday to you too.
Rainfield61 இ Naturally some says the head comes first as its the top. Agree its a challenge for them to get synchronized .
Now only I notice the chinese character xin looks like a heart!
It's interesting that the character 'ai' has the character 'xin' in it!
Yes, do follow your heart. It's a good advice : )
Yes, I like burning hearts.
Hi Bananaz, wow! I love this posting. Now I know, ha ha. One thing I do know, the most painful of all pains is a broken heart. Wounds of the body will heal, but heart wounds leaves scars.
Hey, I don't read Chinese, but looking at your explanation of where the heart is in that Chinese symbol very interesting....the same symbol I use as my callsign.
Wow! Really fascinating to know this, now I can tell my friends where the heart is.
Incidentally, you speak and write Mandarin? Good for you.
Today in Toronto everywhere we go can hear people speaking Mandarin.
I only know, 'wor mun ni mun sek chau fun', ha ha ha.
Have a nice day.
Lee.
I guess I am 60% mind + 40% heart..
foongpc இ sad to say according to SK the simplified version has taken out the heart replaced with 'friend'. So the love without the heart can never be deep
Leovi இ Oh full of burning sensation haha
Hi Lee இ Oh yeah have not thought about your 'heart' avatar. Please keep this old Chinese version to have the heart inside. New simplified Chinese have removed the heart so love now is heartless only friendship so sad. Btw Bananaz is bananaz 'yellow outside white inside' hence the name, have not attended Chinese school before. Started with 'a pen a man a pen & a man' since Primary One. Lucky got sweetie Mango to help out & using the MDBG Dictionary to copy paste every word after translating them. May be hard word but am loving it.
khengsiong இ wow so clear cut on the % must be quite disciplined.
Yes, very beautiful Cliff Richard song.
Why ah?
Why we say flower heart in Chinese?
Not woman heart?
Leovi இ You are quite familiar with oldies the goldies
London Caller இ Yalor should be woman heart instead of flower heart. Since woman loves flowers therefore flower=women=flower=woman QED..haha
wow so many *stars*...hahaha... I did study a little of Mandarin and even played around with some Chinese characters yearssss ago(note the many sss). Sad that I have decided to return all what I learnt to my teacher hahaha..
Chuckled at your 'The heart can even cause the brain to obey its commands hence has a mind of its own'.. how very true..
Yes, lips and hearts every day achievable.
This is again a very good post from Bananaz!!! I read it so slowly to digest them so that I could find ways to help my aged parents!
Long past the broken heart stage. :D
Answer to your question : One is elevated to Senior citizen status in Singapore when he reaches 60 yrs old.
Angie இ Hope not to make you blinking coz of the stars. Yeah how true? Beleaf It Or Nought haha. Bananaz would buy the idea
Leovi இ Lips can't reach the heart haha
Twilight Anay இ Sawadee! Think aged people would rely more of the heart, my guess. Kop khun kap
EastCoastLife இ Past of the stage jagged edges had worn out & smoothen already. Yeah same as in bolehland only effective in 2013.
Hi Bananaz,
love your song choice. it's one of my all time favourites. thanks for featuring it. Happy holidays!
Yes, I remember that song, I danced in the disco very young and I had not yet kissed a girl.
Nice post, Bananaz! I think sometimes I act from emotion (the heart) and sometimes using intelligence (the brain). A little of both seems like a good way to go. :-)
Ha ha Genting can also be misty sometimes.
How come we don't relate it to Dracula one?
Their casino is like a blood sucking vampire. Ha...
Now the economy is so bad, casino is the best thing to do lah!
Hi, org melayu kata ikut hati mati ,ikut rasa binasa, ikut nafsu lesu..yes we do think and use our heads but it comes to decision we follow wat our heart says..he he.Islam kata men ada 9 akal and satu nafsu.women ada 9 nafsu dn satu akal..anyway, dh Tuhan bagi akal fikiran gunala dgn baik .kan? anyway tq for all the great info Bananaz.lots of new info saya dapat.have a nice day friend.
hi bananaman, hope your eyes are okay now. sometimes i wish brain=heart. Can put one in dilemna sometimes when you try to follow your heart whereas your brain is telling you that's stupid and not the right thing to do...
Hello Bananaz, good morning! Oh, I missed that. It's afternoon already, so good afternoon!
Happy Donzhi festival in advance. Have a wonderful day ahead.
Why do we feel our heart pain when we are sad? Heart is an organ to pump blood to our body, but I always wonder why it hurt so much especially when someone hurt us emotionally.
All the 心 are very meaningful. But I like the most is 愛心 and if everyone practice 愛心, the world would be a better place to live in :)
Hi Bananaz, You're... 很 有 心 posted this excellent and interesting topic. I'm not Chinese educated, so I'm learning too.
Interesting to know all about 心 and the explanation of 愛 character. Thanks for sharing.
I better go back before I become
猩猩 after seeing all the 心.
Have a nice day ahead, regards.
Bananaz, please tell me what my toe told about me, please. Don't make me 心思思。
Can you believe that they have been using the same spider webs for Christmas decoration for the last 3 years.
Luckily this year is different.
I love the vision of two dragons flying.
Yes, Excellent knowledge of medicine.
LifeRamblings இ tQ wanted to choose the song by William Hung but then the original singer would be best. Happy holidays.
Leovi இ Haha lips not lucky then
London Caller இ Its the mist plus the old buildings that brings out the scary part. Well there are people who willing to be sucked its their choice.
Daisy இ tQ Think this could be close example, in States while its mandatory to give tips at xx% the brain starts counting but the heart tend to disagree may even give more if they liked the service.
IndaMarya இ tQ for dropping by. Bananaz also learned something about 9 akal & 1 nafsu where men should put to good use but mungkin silap guna sometimes. Love your proverb so must not ikut hait too often else mati haha. Sorry can't find the translation for 'lesu'. Malay also got lots of words binging with hati, eg suka hati, senang hati sagu hati dll.
Amelia இ tQ Bananaz 'got heart' in learning. gimme a 5, sama sama boat can't read but can speak Mandarin. Have a great weekend
lena இ We do face the same problem heart and head kung fu fighting all the time. tQ eyes getting better and better already slowly focusing well.
HappySurfer இ Happy Donzhi Festival to you & family & also a great weekend. Nothing shall happen on 22Dec14:00hrs bolehland time haha.
yvonne இ Hokkien say 'cake sim' so heart already jammed up that's the pain haha. Yeah agree humans should develop more ai xin 愛心 the wolrd is indeed lack of.
Yan இ You are serious to know about your toes haha. OK lah shall post the answer in your blog then.
London Caller இ Same spider webs deco for 3 years phew must be bored to death.
Leovi இ Your pixz always inspire me giving me thoughts beyond my imagination. Love all of them. Kudos.
Yes, I love your dragons in my photos. Greetings.
Follow your mind, never let your feelings rule your head and affect your judgement. Personally, I feel that women tend to follow their hearts more than men. Agree?
Ya lah, exactly!
They better leave them there to get the actual spider cobs grow!
This year design is like "deer horn"! Ha ha...
Maybe you'll see the same one next year too.
Leovi இ Dragons love you to be with you always
suituapui இ In a way yes ladies follow heart more than men and also their heart are deep like ocean can easily get lost haha.
Good morning, Bananaz! That was a good exchange at SK's. Have a great day!
I've come for a visit! ^^ Fascinating post and comments thread.
I wonder ... where does "listen to your gut instinct" fit in? The Japanese word for stomach (腹, hara) can be translated as abdomen, bowel, belly, gut, mind or courage.
Haragei (腹芸) or belly talk refers to communication without words as well as force of personality.
Grin. Who needs a head? We just need hearts and bellies! :)
Yes, I see that you like chocolate as much as me.
Merry Christmas, Bananaz!
Hi Bananaz, drop by to wish you and family Merry Christmas and happy holiday. Best regards.
HappySurfer இ Bananaz don't much but could get carried away. Yeah interesting exchange at SK's
Rurousha இ tQ for dropping by. Great getting to learn more Japanese now. Oh first learn about head then heart now belly talks. Great! haha. Happy Holidays.
Leovi இ Only certain chocs & Merry Xmas & Happy Holidays to you too.
HappySurfer இ Merry Xmas & Happy Holidays
Amelia இ Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to you and family too.
Bonanaz, what an interesting post. Between the Chinese character and the heart muscle. Whether you should follow you mind or your heart, that is a good question. I wish you a Merry Christmas! Also, thanks for visiting my blog and for commenting.
Until today scientist has no explanation to the godly creation. The heart starts beating 6 weeks into pregnancy.
Each of us is granted about 1 billion heartbeats per lifetime, so make full use of it before the end of our journey.
<3 your heart.
Merry Christmas!
eileeninmd இ yeah million $$$ question to mind or to heart haha. Wishing you Merry Xmas & Happy Holidays too
JONG இ Wow1 billion heartbeats per lifetime non stop that's amazing. Merry Xmas & Happy Hoildays
Thank you very much for this beautiful carol, do not know if in your country celebrate Christmas, if so I wish you a happy Christmas Eve.
>Did you tie a yellow around the old oak tree?
Ha... That's a classic song!
You guys celebrate angmo "new year" tomorrow?
Hi Bananaz
just wanna wish you and family a Merry Christmas with lots of joy, good luck, good health and lots of laughter and then a fantastic new year!!
Happy holiday, Bananaz! Good morning!
I've decided I'm going to do a post (one day) about this belly thing in Japan.
It's called tanden (丹田) in Japanese; apparently it's dantian in Chinese. It's related to the Indian tradition of chakras.
Anyway, that tanden, about three finger-widths below your belly button, that's your body's center of gravity.
Anyway x 2! Happy holidays, Bananaz, and all the best for 2013!
Leovi இ Wishing for a celebration of World Peace
London Caller இ Angmoh new year would be another 5 more days. We in bolehland celebrate all New Year haha
Angie இ tQ Happy Holidays and wish you closed the year with a bang
HappySurfer இ Same to you and wish you another great new year ahead.
Rurousha இ That would be great to learn more about tanden (丹田) and the 7 chakras. Looking forward to your post. Happy Holidays & a great New Year 2013
Ha ha... like that good mah.
Here in UK, we go quite a lot of Indian kawan too.
But Deepavali no holiday for me.
Kesian...
Ha ha, 1st Christmas eve dinner?
Did you enjoy the turkey?
I cooked one 5kg turkey yesterday.
Now too much left over~
Not cupcakes here in England thou.
But must have mince pies.
Fuwahhhh....LOVE is in the air.
Happy New Year Bananaz!
London Caller இ Self declare holiday for Deepavali then haha. Not the first Xmas eve dinner though but with chan kar and more proper sit down dinner instead of buffet or BYO. Nice turkey with yummy gravy and some berries sauce. Guess different countries or rather families have optional choice for cup cake or mince pies.
Yee Ling இ Love can be from the heart and the mind to control the head. Happy New Year 2013
Very funny. It is also dangerous to drive while crying.
These candles have good edges to cut the wind.
Ha ha... You like the spider web Christmas lights?
They put them up AGAIN this year!!
London tak cukup duit!
Perhaps in the olden days, people used to think that the heart is the centre of everything, thus "think with your heart" etc. Which we know today that we do everything and judge everything from the brain instead.
Besides, the malay expression is different, berhati-hati (careful) which is actually the "liver" instead.
The yellow comes out is quite orange.
The everlasting dillenma of "follow your heart or your brain"! Do we really feel with the heart and think with the brain? but isn't the heart just a response device that carries the messages of the brain... we see, we touch and react by feeling... aren't these comes from the brain control centre? If there is no brain, we won't have a heart.
In Malay, the jatuh hati, suka hati, berhati-hati all involves the liver while the heart is actually the jantung!
The heart of the banana plant is the flowers which becomes the fruits, but the offsprings came from the ground, not from the banana seeds.
Finally, to Bananaz, Mango, Cherry and family, "Wishing you Happy New Year 2013!"
P/S: hope you'll do a post about auspicious words to say for CNY for us bananas to learn and show off during the CNY season.
Ha ha... We all knew that Santa and Mummy are very busy during Christmas!
You know the saying, "old cow eat young grass"?
Something like that lah.
London Caller இ Times are bad have to live with it for another year
Ai Shiang இ Guess Chinese way of saying heart is in fact the mind. Yeah Bananaz also got confused with the berhati-hati which refers to liver. Alamak!
Leovi இ OK no tears while driving. Huh now yellow or orange? haha.
Autumn Belle இ Yalor hati is jantung so liver sudah jadi kelam kabut silap ma'ana now. Strangely somehow heart has a say besides the mind. tQ & All the best for this coming 2013 for you & family and your ever blossoming blog of greens & flowers. Shall dig more goodies in Chinese for the Year of the Snake.
London Caller இ Oh old Santa Cow eating young grass? haha
wahhh so deep thought with 1 word.
正是令人实在佩服 :)
Kian Fai Koh இ Short and sweet haha
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