Good News Br.
(Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus, EPUB)

Near the beginning of most of the major sections of the material in the file linked to below, a link is provided for the official page for MP3 audio files for the Mandarin Chinese Good News brochure (🎧 > MP3). Listening to these audio files while following along in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material can help us to learn to understand and use the Mandarin speech represented by the text of the Mandarin Chinese Good News brochure.

From the official page mentioned above, MP3 audio files can be streamed, meaning that they can be played, paused, etc. using the controls on the page. To use this capability along with the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material, you can use the following method which has been successfully tested on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, and which should also work on other modern mobile devices:

• In the file linked to below, navigate to the major section for the Good News brochure material for which you want to listen to Mandarin audio.
• There, use the supplied link to open the official audio files page in your web browser. (E.g., in Apple Books on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, just tap on the link to open the official audio files page in the default Safari web browser.)
• There, start playing the audio for the desired material.
• Switch back to the app that the EPUB file is in (on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, that would generally be Apple Books) and follow along in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material while the Mandarin audio plays in the background.
• To pause the audio, etc., switch to the official audio files page in the web browser and use the appropriate control there to do so.
  • On the iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, another way to pause the audio, etc., is to use the Control Centre, which provides controls for the audio that’s currently playing. (For more information, see these Apple Support pages for the iPad and for the iPhone and the iPod touch.) An advantage of this method is that you can use the audio controls without leaving the app where the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material is.

Besides allowing for streaming, the official audio files page also allows for downloading the audio files. This allows them to be used offline (when there is no Internet connection) with the app used to store them. (On the iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, apps like Documents and GoodReader can be used to store MP3 audio files, and to play them in the background while you follow along in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material.)

The JW Library app can also be used to play official Mandarin audio in the background while you follow along in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material. The exact procedure will depend on the version of the app you have. (On the iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, the Control Centre’s audio controls can also be used, as mentioned above.)

Some platforms can read aloud the Chinese characters in Mandarin using a fairly good computer voice. (Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), however, may still be read out as if it were English, etc. Hopefully, computers will in the future be able to recognize Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) for what it is.) For example, recent versions of iPadOS (the operating system on the iPad) and of iOS (the operating system on the iPhone and the iPod touch) can do so using the Speak Selection feature (Apple’s setup instructions can be found here, under the heading “Choose a voice for Speak Screen and Speak Selection”). To have some Chinese characters read aloud on iOS 10 and above, tap and hold on them, adjust the text selection to indicate the character(s) you want read, then tap on Speak in the popup menu. (In some versions of iPadOS/iOS, with some characters you will also be presented with a menu for telling the computer whether to read them in 中文 (Mandarin) or 日本語 (Japanese). In other versions of iPadOS/iOS, the computer decides for itself which language to use in such situations, and sometimes it gets it wrong—you’ll be able to tell by comparing what the computer voice says with the corresponding Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音). Remember that while computer-generated speech or writing may usually be better than nothing, computers still cannot handle languages as correctly or fluently as qualified humans can.)

EPUB annotation in Apple Books

This Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material is in EPUB 3 format. EPUB 3 material has many advantages, including:

• EPUB 3 is a widely supported industry standard and open format.
• 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.
• Offline use
  • Since EPUB files have been available from jw.org for a long time, many publishers in the Mandarin field are now familiar with how to download EPUB files and use them offline.
• Annotation (notes, highlighting, etc.) support
  • EPUB files can be annotated by users in apps such as Apple Books, which runs on the iPad, the iPhone, the iPod touch, and Mac computers. There are also apps that annotate EPUB files on Windows, Android, etc.
• Hyperlinking that is familiar and expected, and that thus will get used and benefited from
  • Taking advantage of this, scripture references in the main text contain links to the full text of the cited scriptures. There, links are provided for returning to the referring citations in the main text.
  • Links are also provided for “teleporting” from the table of contents to the lesson headings and back.
  • As well, links are provided as necessary for going to any footnotes, etc., and for returning from them to the main text.
• Interactivity
  • The EPUB 3 format supports the use of JavaScript code to build interactive features. The showing and hiding of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · 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 of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus EPUB material can be satisfactorily largely produced and edited with even an app running on a mobile device like an iPad.

Reading just Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · 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 of} · 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 of} · 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 of} · 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 of} · 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 of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) into Braille letters. Braille is obviously a writing system, so Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) must also be a writing system (see p. 9), 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 of} · 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—Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is indeed “a method of representing the sounds of a language by written or printed symbols”.

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 of} · 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 of} · 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 of} · 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 of} · 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 of} · 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 of} · 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 of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) was written English or French or something!

But, aren’t characters more meaningful than Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · 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 of} · 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 of} · 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 of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), that’s not a sign that Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · 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 of} · 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 of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), and vice versa. Furthermore, as a very simple and direct representation of Mandarin speech, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · 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 of} · 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 of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), and we will always be able to quickly and easily write anything in Mandarin using Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · 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 of} · 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 of} · 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 of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is not an imposition of Western culture—it is an application of Chinese culture! While Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) uses the Latin alphabet, it does so because the Chinese developers of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · 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 of} · 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 of} · 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 of} · 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 of} · 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 of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), see the article “Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · 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 of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), any more than it is a good reason not to speak Mandarin.”

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.

The regular portions of this Good News brochure material have been carefully translated, rendered, and proofread. Thus, those who are learning Mandarin can confidently rely on them to offer correct and insightful information on the pronunciations and meanings of Mandarin expressions, and on how these expressions are used in various contexts. Of course, the proofread portions of this material may still contain errors. If you find any, please email me to let me know.

Any unproofread or partially proofread material is rendered with a lower-contrast grey background. More proofreading of it may be done later as time allows.

Any proofread Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) material that has not fully had its “flashcards” added and proofread is rendered with a golden-hued background. More “flashcards” may be added and proofread later as time allows.

To download and open the file on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch:

• If Apple Books is not already installed, go here to download and install it from the App Store.
• In Safari, tap on the download link below.
• Tap on the Open in “Books” button/link that appears after the EPUB file has finished downloading in Safari. (If you want to open the file in another app, tap on More… instead.)
• Each updated EPUB file now has its update date in the filename and in the title. This has been found to be necessary to prevent Apple’s iCloud syncing from getting confused re the different versions of the file. If you wish, you may copy over any notes, etc., from the older version(s) to the latest version, and then you may delete the older version(s).

For more information on setting up and using Apple Books on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, see Apple’s support page for that.

To download and open the file on a PC or a Mac:

• Right-click on the download link below and select Save Link As..., or Save Target As..., or Download Linked File As..., or something similar depending on your browser.
• Select a folder on your hard drive to save the file to and click the Save button or something similar to proceed with the download.
• There are many apps with which one can view and annotate EPUB files on Windows, Mac, and Linux personal computers. For example, Apple’s Books app is included with macOS on the Mac.

• The file linked to below is an EPUB 3 file. (This is required to enable the JavaScript-powered interactive features of the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material.) It should work as intended in recent versions of Apple Books running on Apple mobile devices with iOS 9 or newer. (It may also work in Apple Books/iBooks on older versions of iOS, but I have not been able to test on any versions of iOS older than iOS 9.) This file should also work on recent versions of Apple Books on the Mac.
• In Themes & Settings in Apple Books, use Light mode (with the rising sun icon) and one of the light-coloured themes (e.g., Original) to allow the literal and effective English translations to be different colours, and to allow the “flashcards”, the partially proofread material, and the proofread Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) material to have different background colours. (The dark modes and themes change all the text to be the same colour, and they set the background colour to be the same everywhere.)
• On an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, using the Scroll setting works well, and it is a fast way of, yes, scrolling through the material. (These devices are rightly known for how quickly and smoothly they can scroll.)
• On smaller devices like the iPhone, using the Scroll setting in landscape orientation is especially highly recommended.
• Note that in older versions of Apple Books on iOS, highlighting and notes get top priority for responding to touch events. So, if a highlight or note completely covers a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression, then when you tap on that expression, the menu for the highlight or note will appear instead of the expression’s Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus “flashcard”. [Testing on iOS/iPadOS 18 shows that this is no longer the case on these versions. It is uncertain when this change occurred.]
  • In Apple Books on older versions of iOS/iPadOS, if you want to add some highlighting or a note to a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression, but you also want to be able to make its “flashcard” visible, then make sure the highlighting or note you add only covers part of the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression, leaving enough uncovered for you to be able to tap on to show its “flashcard”.

For more information on setting up and using Apple Books on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, see Apple’s support page for that.

This is not a publication of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, and if an official version of the Good News brochure is available, this material should be used along with it, not instead of it. This material is primarily intended 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. (Also, see the Disclaimer at the top of this page.)

IMPORTANT: Please do not use this material as an excuse or as a crutch to just “get by” or “muddle through” at Mandarin meetings or Bible discussions. By all means, make good use of this material in such settings, but most importantly, use this material to help you really improve your knowledge and understanding of the Mandarin language, so that you can 1) listen to it with more understanding and 2) speak it more effectively from your heart while praising Jehovah and preaching and teaching the good news in the Mandarin field.

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. (If you need login information for the parts of tiandi.info that require it, request it by email, and include information on who referred you and/or what group/cong. you are in.)

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

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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.