Pīnyīn is a Good, Workable Writing System On Its Own ˄

Reading just Pīnyīn may take some getting used to if you’re accustomed to reading (or trying to read) Hànzì (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.

“One of the basic assumptions of modern linguistics [the scientific study of language]…is that speech is primary and writing is secondary”. 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 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 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, 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 has warped and obfuscated Mandarin speech rather than supporting it.

But, is Pīnyīn even really a writing system? Interestingly, the Chinese national standard Zhōngguó Mángwén (中国盲文/中國盲文, Chinese Braille) is basically a transliteration or conversion of Pīnyīn into braille letters. Braille is obviously a writing system, so Pīnyīn 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 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 should naturally be considered a writing system, in spite of the efforts of worldly Chinese intellectuals to artificially and unjustly keep Pīnyīn down in order to protect and enshrine the traditional Hànzì writing system that they have so much invested in.

Since Pīnyīn 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 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 is Chinese” because it was developed in China by Chinese people, it is also quite correct to say that “Pīnyīn is Chinese” in the sense that, even if it isn’t Hànzì, it is indeed written Mandarin Chinese—it’s not as if Pīnyīn were written English or French or something!

But, aren’t characters more meaningful than Pīnyīn? 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 of 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. 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”. Writing the word in characters does not add to its meaning, and writing it in Pīnyīn does not take away from its meaning.

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 system, we will be equipped to always be able to quickly and easily read anything in Mandarin that’s written in Pīnyīn, and we will always be able to quickly and easily write anything in Mandarin using Pīnyīn. 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 mean that we are failing to show proper respect for Chinese culture? Since, as mentioned above, the Pīnyīn 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 is not an imposition of Western culture—it is an application of Chinese culture! While Pīnyīn uses the Latin alphabet, it does so because the Chinese developers of Pīnyīn 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 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 (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 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 most 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 brings similar benefits as a writing system for Mandarin.

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 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 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 Chinese field should view Pīnyīn, see the article “Pīnyīn 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, any more than it is a good reason not to speak Mandarin.”

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