Whole Heart in Chinese / Japanese...

quán xīn

zenshin

全心 is a short title that means "with heart and soul" or "one's whole heart."

It literally reads, "whole heart" or "complete mind."

The first character means all, whole, entire, or complete.

The second character means heart but can also refer to the mind or soul.

xuě xīn

혈심

When you take this word apart, you find the sum is a little different than the parts. The first character means blood and the second means heart. It is important to note that for thousands of years, it was believed that your heart was both your soul and your mind in Asian culture. When you add blood to the heart, it is your whole being - it is pure and clean dedication with your whole soul.

Most Chinese dictionaries define this as sincerity of heart or a MEDICAL TERM!!!
Please think carefully before ordering this selection - it was only added as others have used this for coffee cups and other novelties (though perhaps naively).

yī shì dài

isshin

일심

This literally reads as "one heart" in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

Colloquially or figuratively, it means: wholeheartedly; heart and soul; of one mind; wholeheartedness; one's whole heart; with the whole mind or heart; one mind of heart.
I'm not kidding, all of those came right from the dictionary for this one title. In Buddhism, this can refer to the bhūtatathatā, or the whole of things; the universe as one mind, or a spiritual unity.

In Japanese this can be the female given name, Hitomi.

suí xīn ér xíng

수심이행

隨心而行 is the closest way to express this idea in Chinese. Literally translated, this phrase means, "Allow your heart to dictate your behavior" or "Let your heart guide your conduct" in Chinese. You could also translate this as "follow your heart." Or, with a bit of imagination, it could mean: "let your spirit be your guide."

Note that in some cases, "heart" can mean "mind," "soul" or even "spirit" in Chinese. In ancient China, it was thought that the big pumping organ in your chest was where your thoughts came from, or where your soul resides.
Ancient western thought followed a similar belief. Thus phrases like "I love you with all my heart" and "I give you my whole heart."

kimochi ni shitagau

気持ちに従う is a Japanese phrase that means follow your heart.

The first part of this Japanese proverb means, feeling, sensation, or mood.

The second part suggests the following, abiding by, or listening to this inner feeling.

In this context, you could say it means your heart, as the whole proverb is suggesting that you follow the feelings that you have inside.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

zhuān xīn

sen shin

전심

The first character means "for a particular person, occasion, or purpose," "focused on one single thing," "concentrated" and sometimes, "special."

The second character means "heart" or "mind" by itself.

Together, these two characters make a word that means, "paying attention with your heart." It's often translated as, "dedication," as in "be absorbed in" or "concentrate one's efforts." It's also used to mean, "with single mind," "whole-heartedly," "paying attention," "undivided attention," "concentration (-ed)," "engrossed," "devotionally (listening/watching)," and/or "attentive."

My favorite translation, which comes from the Oxford Advanced Chinese/English Dictionary is, "wholehearted devotion."

If it seems like the meaning of this word is quite open, you are correct. The context in which the word is used matters a lot. It can mean different things depending on how you use it. This makes it kind of nice as you can decide what this means to you (within some limits). This word is always positive in meaning, so even if a Chinese person reads it differently than you, it will still have a good meaning.

In Japanese, they tend to use a variation of the second character which has one less stroke. If you want your calligraphy written this Japanese form, please click on the Kanji shown to the right instead of the button above. Note: Japanese and Chinese people will recognize either form.

See Also:  Faith | Devotion

yì zhì jiān qiáng

의지견강

This phrase can mean either "strong hearted," "strong willed" or "determination."

The first two characters can be translated as "will," "willpower," "determination," "volition," "intention," or "intent." But, it should be noted that this first part possess the element of "heart" in the lower portion of both characters (they also partially carry the meaning "with whole heart").

The last two characters mean "strong" or "staunch."

Chinese word order and grammar is a bit different than English, so in this case, they are in reverse order of English but have the correct meaning in a natural form.

See Also:  Strong Willed | Discipline | Will-Power