oragami_itto wrote:On heart, I've seen xin translated as heart but also reading Yang Jwing Ming he says xin and yi both mean mind but xin is emotional mind while yi is intellectual mind. Is this what you mean by heart, i.e. heart is emotional mind, (English has a concept like this) or is it purely the physical organ the heart?
"Yi" doesn't mean mind, but thought or idea. This character make up many everyday words as "wish", "Being conscious", "meaning", "opinion" and "to consent" / "to accept".
"Xin" is the classical character for "mind", but also means "heart". The character is from start the picture of a heart, but has become to mean "mind". Emotion is related to thought. In Chinese language, this character make up words as "worry", "be careful", being thoughtful".
I wouldn't say that Xin is only emotional mind, but "wisdom mind".
“The Heart is the house of wisdom" = "心也者, 智之舍也” -Guanzi, Chapter 36
In philosophical texts, thinking with brain only means that your thoughts have no depth. It's through emotional decisions and controlling your mind and feelings your thinking achieve clearness and maturity. In philosophy, Xin represents neither brain nor heart, but the very process of conciousness, the process that shapes our "I", and the process our "I" use to express itself.
Also, in Chinese philosophy, Buddhism has had a great impact on meanings of "Xin". Concepts as "one heart", sincerity and truthfulness are important Buddhist concepts that has had impact on schools as the Neo Confucianist "Xin Xue", "School of mind". And this school in turn has had a great impact on Chinese learning systems and Martial Arts teaching especially. So if you want to really understand what "Xin" has meant in, and for, Chinese martial arts, you should study "Xin" as a Chinese Buddhist term and the Neo-confucian School of Mind, and the philosopher Wang Yang -Ming's teaching especially and what impact in a very practical sense he had on Chinese teaching systems.
"The great virtue of man lies in his ability to correct his mistakes and continually make a new man of himself"- Wang Yang-Ming
"Thought and learning are of small value unless translated into action."- Wang Yang-Ming