This semantic analysis of how emotions and emotional experiences are described in Chinese, focuses on conventionalized expressions in Chinese, namely compounds and idioms, which contain body-part terms. These terms are divided into two classes, denoting external and internal body parts or organs. The expressions involving external body parts are practically always originally metonymic, yet also used metaphorically regardless of emotional symptoms or gestures. Those involving internal organs evoke imaginary bodily images that are primarily metaphorical. The metaphors seem to have a bodily or psychological basis, although they are inevitably influenced by cultural models.