The word "心里" is formed through a direct conceptual and visual combination of its two component characters. The first character, 心 (xīn), means "heart", representing the physical organ but more importantly the ancient Chinese conception of the heart as the seat of thought, emotion, and intention. The second character, 里 (lǐ), means "inside" or "interior", originally depicting a field (田) over earth (土) to imply the inner, cultivated land of a village. When combined, 里 is placed after 心 to spatially and metaphorically indicate the "inner realm of the heart", visually constructing the idea of the internal, invisible space of feelings and thoughts contained within the symbolic heart.