Mobile-Friendly Songbook Material 🔼

While we greatly appreciate the availability of the official Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) songbook PDF files, the PDF format was conceived of in a world dominated by paper. Unfortunately, that means that PDF files are often not optimal for reading on the mobile devices that are now so prevalent among Mandarin field publishers.

Also, especially with the Sing to Jehovah—New Songs Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) PDF file, having to share limited display real estate with Chinese characters has forced the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) text to be rendered in small type that can be difficult to read, especially for older people.

This Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) songbook material has been designed to be mobile-first, so it automatically adjusts itself to be optimal for reading on mobile devices of various shapes and sizes, including tablets and smartphones. A couple of the ways in which it does so are:

• Song material automatically loads “prezoomed” to take full advantage of the width of your device’s display, so as to render the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) lyrics in as large a size as possible.
• The typeface chosen for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) lyrics is one that is especially legible at smaller text sizes.

Advantages of the Web Format 🔼

This Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) material is in web format. Web material has many advantages, including:

• Exceptionally broad hardware and software support
• Easy enlarging and automatic reflowing of the text to accommodate displays of various shapes and sizes, including those of many mobile devices
  • This is especially an advantage compared to the situation with PDF files, which have preset page sizes and line renderings baked in. As a result, PDF files are often cumbersome and difficult to read on smaller mobile devices.
• Familiarity and ease of use
  • Once this web material is loaded in a supporting web browser, no further downloading or switching to another app is required.
• Hyperlinking that is familiar and expected, and that thus will get used and benefited from
  • Taking advantage of this, links are provided for “teleporting” from the table of contents to the songs, etc., and back.
• Interactivity
  • The web format supports the use of JavaScript code to build interactive features. The showing and hiding of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus “flashcards” in response to user taps/clicks is an example of such interactivity.
• Producibility and editability with simpler, more accessible, more mobile tools
  • At this time, Microsoft Word running on a desktop or laptop PC is needed to produce satisfactory 3-line PDF files. In contrast, this plain text-based Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material can be satisfactorily produced and edited with even an app running on a mobile device like an iPad.

Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is a Good, Workable Writing System On Its Own 🔼

Reading just Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) may take some getting used to if you’re accustomed to reading (or trying to read) Hànzì (Hàn·zì {Han (Chinese)} · characters 汉字 漢字) (Chinese characters), but going by first principles of linguistics (the scientific study of language) rather than mere human traditions, it should be more than worth the effort. You should at least give yourself a chance to get used to it.

Just like it’s an established fact that the earth is round, according to modern linguistics this is also an established fact: “Speech is primary, writing is secondary and is always derivative of speech.” Yes, speech is the foundation on which writing must be built, not vice versa. (That is just a natural result of the way Jehovah made us—he gave our bodies the built-in ability to produce speech, but writing requires external aids such as pens and paper, keyboards and screens, etc.) Thus, it is very good that Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) represents Mandarin speech so straightforwardly and easily, and that it enables us to focus on speech. Yes, while Chinese characters, as beautiful and traditional as they are, demand distractingly large commitments of precious time and energy just for themselves, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) frees and empowers us to focus on communicating the good news.

Indeed, in our ministry specifically, we definitely need to understand speech and to speak understandably much more than we need to read and write. (1 Corinthians 14:8–11) So, while many who have received traditional Mandarin language instruction have been influenced to believe that being able to read and write characters is the ultimate goal for a Mandarin language student to aspire to, actually, for us Kingdom publishers, our ultimate goal regarding Mandarin should be being able to understand and speak spoken Mandarin, so that we can preach and teach the good news effectively, from our hearts, using Mandarin speech. So, really, for us Kingdom publishers, being able to read, understand, and write Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), which directly represents Mandarin speech, is a more relevant and important (and easy-to-achieve) goal to aspire to than being able to read, understand, and write characters, which unfortunately have become this thing on their own that is warping and obfuscating Mandarin speech rather than supporting it.

But, is Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) even really a writing system? Interestingly, the Chinese national standard Zhōngguó (Zhōng·guó central · nation → [Chinese] 中国 中國) Mángwén (Máng·wén blind · writing → [Braille] 盲文) (中国盲文/中國盲文, Chinese Braille) is basically a transliteration or conversion of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) into Braille letters. Braille is obviously a writing system, so Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) must also be a writing system, not just a pronunciation aid.

Also, as a Sumerian proverb stated, “a scribe whose hand matches the mouth, he is indeed a scribe”. Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) can indeed be used to write anything that can be spoken in Modern Standard Mandarin, from the simplest expressions to the most advanced, complex, and deeply meaningful expressions, so it qualifies as a full writing system in that fundamental sense as well.

Really, after a bit of research into what the definition of a “writing system” is, it becomes evident that a system like Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) should naturally be considered a writing system, in spite of the efforts of worldly Chinese intellectuals to artificially and unjustly keep Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) down in order to protect and enshrine the traditional Hànzì (Hàn·zì {Han (Chinese)} · characters 汉字 漢字) writing system that they have so much invested in.

Since Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is not just a pronunciation aid, but a full writing system, it is not “training wheels”—it’s regular wheels. On the other hand, Chinese characters are like non-round wheels—more difficult than necessary. While some may find non-round wheels “interesting”, or maybe even “beautiful”, much of the time we just need to get from point A to point B as quickly and easily as possible. We may even need to do so to save someone’s life. For example, what kind of wheels should be on an ambulance? That’s the kind of “wheels” we should be using in our life-saving work.

That Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is a full writing system for any and all Modern Standard Mandarin speech also means that, in addition to it being correct to say that “Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is Chinese” because it was developed in China by Chinese people, it is also quite correct to say that “Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is Chinese” in the sense that, even if it isn’t Hànzì (Hàn·zì {Han (Chinese)} · characters 汉字 漢字), it is indeed written Mandarin Chinese—it’s not as if Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) were written English or French or something!

But, aren’t characters more meaningful than Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)? There are certainly meanings and stories behind how certain characters are written, but taken as a bewitchingly complex, independent system for directly representing meanings visually, the characters can actually be a distraction or a diversion from the Mandarin words themselves, which are already a system for representing meanings through Mandarin speech sounds. Really, a Mandarin word still means what it means, no more and no less, whether it is spoken, written in characters, or written in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音). Shakespeare said that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”, and indeed, a rose would smell as sweet whether the spoken Mandarin word for it is written as “玫瑰” or as “méigui (méi·gui {fine jade} · {jade-like stone} → [rose] 玫瑰)”. Writing the word in characters does not add to its meaning, and writing it in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) does not take away from its meaning.

If someone says that they don’t get much meaning from reading Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), that’s not a sign that Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is not meaningful. Rather, it’s perhaps a sign that this person has become accustomed to and perhaps dependent on the way characters represent meaning visually, and it’s probably a sign that this person’s understanding of Mandarin speech needs improving, because Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is a very simple and direct representation of Mandarin speech, such that if one understands Mandarin speech, one will understand Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), and vice versa. Furthermore, as a very simple and direct representation of Mandarin speech, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is thus just as meaningful as Mandarin speech is, and it would be downright unscriptural to say that Mandarin speech is without meaning!—1 Corinthians 14:10.

Practically speaking, we should keep in mind that, as many in the Mandarin field have found, by investing the minimal amount of time and effort needed to learn and get used to the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) system, we will be equipped to always be able to quickly and easily read anything in Mandarin that’s written in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), and we will always be able to quickly and easily write anything in Mandarin using Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音). In contrast, even those who are fairly familiar with Chinese characters will at times come across unfamiliar or forgotten characters whose meanings and pronunciations they can only guess at. Also, even those who are fairly familiar with Chinese characters will at times be completely unable to remember or figure out how to write a certain character.

But, does using Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) mean that we are failing to show proper respect for Chinese culture? Since, as mentioned above, the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) system was developed in China by Chinese people, it is a product of Chinese culture, and it is a part of Chinese culture. So, using Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is not an imposition of Western culture—it is an application of Chinese culture! While Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) uses the Latin alphabet, it does so because the Chinese developers of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) of their own free will purposely chose to base it on this international alphabet (it’s not just the English alphabet) so that users of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) would benefit from its familiarity. This Chinese design decision has caused the international Latin alphabet to be adopted as part of Chinese culture. As Zhōu Ēnlái ((Zhōu {circumference (surname)} 周 周/週) (Ēn·lái kindness · comes 恩来 恩來) (the first Premier of the People’s Republic of China)) (the first Premier of the People’s Republic of China) said, ‘When we adopt the Latin alphabet, in which we make necessary adjustments to suit the needs of the Chinese language, it becomes the phonetic alphabet of our language and is no longer the alphabet of ancient Latin, still less the alphabet of any foreign country.’

While those who love traditional Chinese culture may dislike such a radical innovation, it can be said that such innovations are actually a sign of positive, healthy cultural development. Another example of such a radical but positive and beneficial innovation was the West and China moving from always using Roman numerals and the Chinese characters for numbers to mostly using Arabic numerals. I’m sure just about everyone would agree that it’s a very good thing that we no longer have to deal with CMXXXVI÷III or 九百三十六÷三, because we can just work out 936÷3! Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) brings similar benefits as a writing system for Mandarin, while still being Chinese rather than Arabic, etc.

Anyway, the merely human cultures and traditions of this world that is passing away should not be the most important things to us Witnesses of Jehovah. (Mark 7:13; 1 John 2:17) The most important thing for us to consider is the truth about what really works best for our God-given work of sanctifying Jehovah’s name, preaching the good news of the Kingdom, and helping to save the lives of those who respond positively to that good news.—John 4:24; Matthew 6:9; 24:14; 1 Timothy 2:3, 4.

The truth is that, based on first principles of language science that help us to understand how Jehovah actually designed us humans to learn and use language, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is a good, workable writing system on its own for Modern Standard Mandarin. Not only that, but the experiences of many in the Mandarin field also provide living proof that Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) works much more quickly, easily, and effectively than Chinese characters do for helping publishers who are learning Mandarin to become effective preachers and teachers in the Mandarin field.

For a more in-depth discussion about how we in the Mandarin field should view Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), see the article “Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Was Plan A”. Here is a quote from it:

“That there are so many different words in modern Mandarin that sound the same is not a good reason not to use Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), any more than it is a good reason not to speak Mandarin.”

(The login information required is the same as for anywhere else on 3lines.org. If you’re already on the 3lines.org site, you can find this article in the folder Misc ▶ Articles.)

Proofreading 🔼

Proofreading is generally the production step that requires the most time and intense mental effort. However, it is necessary in order to produce the sharpest possible tools for our spiritual harvesting work, the sharpest possible weapons for our spiritual warfare.–Ecclesiastes 10:10; 2 Corinthians 10:4, 5.

This Sing to Jehovah—New Songs songbook material has been carefully rendered and proofread. Of course, it may still contain errors. If you find any, please email me to let me know.

Offline Viewing and Printing 🔼

This web resource is divided into different files and folders. These files and folders have been “zipped” into the zip file linked to below, which can be saved or downloaded and unzipped for offline use:

snnw-Pinyin_2017-12-11.zip

To download and unzip this file on an iPad or an iPhone/iPod touch using GoodReader:

• In Safari (or whatever other web browser you’re using to view this page), tap and hold on the zip file link above, and select Copy or something similar from the menu that appears. This copies the link’s URL (web address).
• Switch to GoodReader.
  • Tap on Connect.
  • Tap on Enter URL. The URL (web address) you just copied from your web browser should have been automatically entered into the dialogue box that appears. If not, paste it there now. Tap the OK button.
  • The zip file should get downloaded into the My Documents ▶ Downloads folder. If you want to, you can move it to another folder.
  • Tap on the zip file, then tap the Unzip button in the dialogue box that appears. The files and folders inside the zip file will be extracted and placed into a folder with the same name as the zip file.
  • In the folder with the extracted files and folders, tap the index.html file to open it in GoodReader.
  • Note: When viewing one of the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web pages in GoodReader, a regular tap makes the GoodReader controls appear or disappear, but it also makes any drop-down list menus disappear. To make a drop-down list menu stay on the screen long enough for you to make a selection from it, tap and hold on the drop-down list briefly before lifting your finger.

To download and unzip this file on an iPad or an iPhone/iPod touch using Documents:

• In Safari, tap on the zip file link above, and wait for the zip file to be downloaded.
• After the zip file has finished being downloaded, if an Open in “Documents” link/button appears, tap on it.
• If an Open in “Documents” link/button does not appear after downloading, tap on the More… link/button, then tap on the Copy to Documents icon.
• In Documents, note where the app’s dialogue box says the zip file was saved to (probably the Documents folder). If you want to, you can move it to another folder.
• If Documents has not yet unzipped the zip file, tap on the zip file. The files and folders inside the zip file will be extracted and placed into a folder with the same name as the zip file.
• In the folder with the extracted files and folders, tap the index.html file to open it in Documents.

To download and unzip this file on a PC or a Mac:

• Right-click on the zip file link above and select Save Link As..., or Save Target As..., or Download Linked File As..., or something similar depending on your browser.
• In the resulting dialogue box, select a folder to save the file to, and click the Save button or something similar to proceed with the download.
• Modern PCs and Macs generally come with software for unzipping zip files. So, to unzip the downloaded zip file, you generally just need to double-click on it.
  • Note: On some Windows computers, double-clicking on a zip file lets you view its contents while leaving them inside the zip file. In such cases, a separate step would be required to actually extract the contents of the zip file.
• From among the files and folders extracted from the zip file, double-click the index.html file to open it in your default web browser.

This Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {piecing together} · sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource was primarily designed to be used on computing devices like smartphones and tablets, but its content can also be printed out from your web browser.

Disclaimer 🔼

This is not a publication of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. This material is only meant to help publishers working in the Mandarin field, so that they can more quickly become more effective at preaching and teaching the good news to Mandarin-speaking people without being unnecessarily obstructed and delayed by the complex and difficult-to-learn-and-remember Chinese characters.

Updates and Other Information 🔼

Check the Links News blog (news feed, Twitter) for news regarding updates to this resource, and also for news regarding other resources prepared by our fellow workers in the Chinese fields. You may also find it interesting to check out the tiandi.info blog (news feed, Twitter), which is about various things related to the Chinese fields. (Note: The original login info still works for the parts of tiandi.info that require it, but now you can also log in using the login info that is used on 3lines.org, except with tiandi in front of the first item.)

To follow the Twitter account for the Links News and tiandi.info blogs, click or tap this button:

Follow @TiandiLinksNews

If you have any questions or comments, email them to me. I am often very busy, but I will try my best to answer your emails.

Enjoy using the material. May it help you to serve more effectively and joyfully in the Mandarin field.