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Where in your body is [心]{こころ} located?

When people refer to [心]{こころ} do they refer to their heart or brain? I assume
heart as the literal translation, but I've heard both so was wondering what
the answer is.

For example, there is the expression `[心]{こころ}に[浮]{う}かぶ` which seems to me
like it would be referring to your brain rather than your heart, is there a
distinction between this usage and other usages?

**CLARIFICATION**

I realize the [心]{しん} can refer to your heart, as in [心臓]{しんぞう}. However, my
question is about the word こころ not しん.
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2012-07-31T00:11:07.427
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words etymology
Where exactly in your body is "心"?
Heart is 心臓, brain is 脳. 心 refers to your mind. This is not any part of the
body.

ps: In restaurant, you often say こころ for animal's heart. I don't know why
though.
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2012-07-31T00:21:00.200
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It seems like the actual location of 心 is not really clear. But there are a
few places where most people thought.

Based on [Wikipedia](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BF%83), the Chinese
thought it was located in 心臓、腹部、or 胸部.

Possibly it might be similar to asking "where is your spirit in your body?".
That's a hard to answer question and has brought forth a multitude of study,
so I'd guess 心 would as well.

I wonder if 「心に浮かぶ」 would be referring to your "mind" more so than "brain".
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2012-07-31T00:26:01.533
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There are two meanings. As a body part, it means the heart. In the other
meaning, it means the mind.

**Edit to match the edited question**

こころ "mind" is an abstract notion. By now, people believe that the location of
the mind is the brain. However, that is not included in the meaning of こころ.
Within the (not necessarily correct) world where this definition belongs to,
there is no real object that corresponds to こころ. It has no location.
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2012-07-31T00:44:51.443
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According to the [gogen-allguide page for `腹`](http://gogen-
allguide.com/ha/hara_karada.html), In present times it's thought one's `心` is
located in one's `胸` (chest), while historically it was thought that one's `心`
was situated in the `腹` (abdomen), which is also the reason why `腹` is often
used to mean feelings/emotions (`腹が立つ` might be one example of this.)

The [page for `心{こころ}`](http://gogen-allguide.com/ko/kokoro.html) also states
that the reason 心 can mean "mind" etc is because it was thought in Chinese
that the operation of one's mind and one's heartbeat were linked. It also
states that unlike the `漢語` (word of Chinese origin) `心{しん}`, after the middle
ages `心{こころ}` lost it's meaning of the internal organ.

As with `私の胸の中` and `私の心の中`, I think `胸` can sometimes be used in place of `心`
(and vice-versa), but I don't necessarily think they always have the same
nuance. In your example, I think `心` can be replaced with `胸`, as there's both
[`心に浮かぶ`](http://eow.alc.co.jp/%E5%BF%83%E3%81%AB%E6%B5%AE%E3%81%8B%E3%81%B6/UTF-8/)
and
[`胸に浮かぶ`](http://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%E8%83%B8%E3%81%AB%E6%B5%AE%E3%81%8B%E3%81%B6).
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