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Current Events Theocratic

kàngyì làngcháo

 

 

kàngyì+ (kàng·yì opposing · remarking → [protest] 抗议 抗議) làngcháo+ (làng·cháo wave · tide 浪潮) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”. 📖 📄 ➕ icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and ➕ Reveal + Symbols re all the “flashcards” and + symbols in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

At the time of this writing, jw.org was featuring an article about the youth protests that have recently erupted across Europe. The titles of the English and Mandarin versions of this article are:

English:

Youths Protest in Europe

Mandarin:

📖 📄 ➕ Ōuzhōu (Ōu·zhōu {European (abbr. for Ōuluóbā)} · Continent → [(in) Europe (abbr. for Ōuluóbā Zhōu)] 欧洲 歐洲) Duō ((in) Many 多) Guó (Nations 国 國) Xiānqi+ (Xiān·qi {(There) Is Being Raised → [(There) Is Surging]} · {to Be Rising → [Up]} 掀起) Qīngnián (Qīng·nián {Green (in) → [Young (in)]} · Years (Persons) → [Youths] 青年) Kàngyì+ (Kàng·yì Opposing · Remarking → [Protest] 抗议 抗議) Làngcháo (Làng·cháo Wave · Tide 浪潮)

This week’s MEotW “kàngyì (kàng·yì opposing · remarking → [protest] 抗议 抗議) làngcháo (làng·cháo wave · tide 浪潮)” appears in the Mandarin version of the article’s title.

Morpheme Meanings and Related Expressions

The MEotW post on “shìwēi (shì·wēi {showing; indicating; revealing; manifesting; demonstrating [of]} · might; power; strength; force → [putting on a show of force | demonstrating (as a protest); marching; holding a demonstration | demonstration] 示威) kàngyì (kàng·yì resisting; fighting; opposing; defying · {discussing | commenting [on]; remarking [on]} → [protesting | protest (n)] 抗议 抗議)” said the following about “kàngyì (kàng·yì resisting; fighting; opposing; defying · {discussing | commenting [on]; remarking [on]} → [protesting | protest (n)] 抗议 抗議)”:

In “kàngyì (kàng·yì resisting; fighting; opposing; defying · {discussing | commenting [on]; remarking [on]} → [protesting | protest (n)] 抗议 抗議)”, “kàng (resist; fight; oppose; defy 抗)” means “resist; fight; oppose; defy”, and other expressions that use it include “dǐkàng (dǐ·kàng resist; withstand · {resist; fight; combat; defy} 抵抗)”, “duìkàng (duì·kàng facing · resisting 对抗 對抗)”, “fǎnkàng (fǎn·kàng {turn over → [oppose]} · resist 反抗)”, and “kàngjù+ (kàng·jù resist; fight; defy · resist; repel; {ward off} 抗拒)”. The other morpheme “yì (discussing; conferring; {exchanging views}; {talking over}; commenting; remarking [→ [(exchanged) opinion; view]] 议 議)” can mean “discuss” or “comment on”, and it’s also used in “jiànyì+ (jiàn·yì {build; construct → [propose; advocate]} · discussing → [propose; suggest; recommend] | {building; constructing of → [proposing; advocating of]} · discussing → [proposal; suggestion; recommendation] 建议 建議)” and in recent MEotW “zhēngyì (zhēng·yì contending · discussing [→ [dispute; controversy]] 争议 爭議)”.

So, “kàngyì (kàng·yì resisting; fighting; opposing; defying · {discussing | commenting [on]; remarking [on]} → [protesting | protest (n)] 抗议 抗議)” can mean something like “commenting about opposing”, and indeed, a protest is intended to make a statement about opposition to something.

“Làngcháo (Làng·cháo wave · tide 浪潮)” literally means “wave · tide”, and like “wave” and “tide” in English, it can sometimes be used metaphorically to refer to a major social movement. Incidentally, the “làng (wave [→ [stroll; wander; ramble | unrestrained; dissolute; profligate; wasteful; reckless]] 浪)” in “làngcháo (làng·cháo wave · tide 浪潮)” also appears in past MEotW “rèlàng+ (rè·làng heat · wave 热浪 熱浪)” (“heat wave”).

“A Reliable Hope for the Future”

The above-mentioned article on jw.org contains the following paragraph, which we may want to share with Mandarin-speaking people who are concerned about the protests and the issues driving the protesters:

English:

God has promised to bring about real and lasting change. He will accomplish this through his Kingdom, a real government in heaven, with Jesus Christ serving as its King. (Matthew 6:10) Unlike human governments, God’s Kingdom will not simply manage the problems that trouble people today. It will remove the very causes of those problems.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 ➕ Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝) chéngnuò+ (chéng·nuò {has borne} · promising → [has promised] 承诺 承諾) tā de ((tā him 他) (de ’s 的) → [his]) Wángguó (Wáng·guó King’s · Nation → [Kingdom] 王国 王國) huì (will 会 會) jiějué (jiě·jué {untie → [solve]} · decide → [solve] 解决 解決) suǒyǒu (suǒ·yǒu {(all) which} · {(there) are having → [(there) are]} → [all] 所有) nántí (nán·tí difficult · topics → [problems] 难题 難題), zhèige (zhèi·ge this · [mw] 这个 這個) Wángguó (Wáng·guó King’s · Nation → [Kingdom] 王国 王國) shì (is 是) yí (one 一) ge ([mw] 个 個/个) tiānshang (tiān·shang heaven · upon 天上) de (’s 的) zhèngfǔ+ (zhèng·fǔ political · {seat of government} → [government] 政府), Jūnwáng (jūn·wáng (its) Monarch · King 君王) shì (is 是) Yēsū (Jesus 耶稣 耶穌) Jīdū (Christ 基督). (Mǎtài Fúyīn ((Mǎtài Matthew’s 马太 馬太) (Fú·yīn Blessings · {Sounds → [News]} 福音) → [The Good News According to Matthew]) 6:10) Gēn (with 跟) rénlèi (rén·lèi human·kind 人类 人類) de (’s 的) zhèngfǔ (zhèng·fǔ political · {seats of government} → [governments] 政府) bù (not 不) yíyàng (yí·yàng {(of) one} · {pattern → [way]} → [the same] 一样 一樣), Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝) de (’s 的) Wángguó (Wáng·guó King’s · Nation → [Kingdom] 王国 王國) bú (not 不) shì (is 是) zànshí (zàn·shí (for a) temporary · {(particular) time} → [temporarily] 暂时 暫時) huǎnjiě+ (huǎn·jiě deferring · {untying → [solving]} → [easing] 缓解 緩解) nántí (nán·tí difficult · topics → [problems] 难题 難題), ér ({but (rather)} 而) shì ({(it) is (the case that it)} 是) huì (will 会 會) chèdǐ+ (chè·dǐ {penetrating to} · bottom → [thoroughly] 彻底 徹/澈底) jiějué (jiě·jué {untie → [solve]} · decide → [solve] 解决 解決) xiànjīn+ (xiàn·jīn {appearing → [current]} · now 现今 現今) de (’s 的) shèhuì (shè·huì {god of the land’s → [society’s]} · {gathering’s → [society’s]} → [society’s] 社会 社會) wèntí (wèn·tí asking · problems → [problems] 问题 問題).

Categories
Culture Experiences History Language Learning Names Science

Shànghǎi

 

 

Shànghǎi+ (Shàng·hǎi Upon · {the Sea} → [Shanghai] 上海) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

Shanghai is well-known as an exceptionally populous and prosperous city in China. Of at least some interest to Mandarin field language learners, Wikipedia reports that Shanghainese is the prestige variety or prestige dialect of the Wu Chinese language branch, and that there are estimated to be about 16 million speakers of Shanghainese, out of the approximately 83 million speakers of some variety of Wu Chinese.

This reminds me that one of the things I realized soon after I went from the Cantonese field to the Mandarin field is that there are actually many different peoples in the world who are called “Chinese”, peoples who have different cultures and who speak different languages, including Shanghainese. Indeed, as the MEotW post on “Yuèyǔ (Yuè·yǔ Yue · Language [→ [Cantonese]] 粤语 粵語)” says:

While the central government of China wants everyone to just think of China as one monolithic political entity that should be governed by them, the central government, modern China actually is made up of many different parts. If it wasn’t for Qín Shǐhuáng ((Qín {Qin (dynasty)} 秦) (Shǐ·huáng Beginning · Emperor 始皇) (the founder of the Qín dynasty and the first emperor of China)) (Wikipedia article), who (rather forcefully) united several warring states and became the first emperor of China, China could have ended up like modern Europe, with its several independent nations.

These different parts of modern China, that in an alternate timeline could have become independent nations, each have their own history, including their own linguistic history—just like modern France, Spain, Germany, etc. have historically had their own mutually unintelligible languages, modern Guǎngdōng (Guǎng·dōng Wide · East → [Guangdong (Canton) Province] 广东 廣東), Shànghǎi (Shàng·hǎi Upon · {the Sea} → [Shanghai] 上海), Fújiàn (Fú·jiàn {Blessing (abbr. for the city name Fúzhōu)} · {Established (abbr. for the city name Jiànzhōu)} → [Fujian (Province)] 福建), etc. also have historically had their own mutually unintelligible languages, even if China’s central government would like everyone to just (erroneously) call them dialects of “Chinese”.

A Gold Rush Leads to Shanghaiing

Not as well known as Shanghai’s current prosperous and respected status is why “shanghai” is used in English to mean “to kidnap (a man) for compulsory service aboard a ship, especially after drugging him”, or “to induce or compel (someone) to do something, especially by fraud or force”. Recently, I came across an article on the website The World of Chinese entitled “ ‘Shanghai’ Beyond the Map: The Story of an English Verb”, which provides some background on this:

But the answer to how “shanghai” became an action rather than merely a destination lies in the American West during the turbulent mid-19th century.

The California Gold Rush transformed sleepy Pacific ports like San Francisco into booming maritime hubs virtually overnight. More than a thousand merchant vessels sailed into San Francisco Bay, many of them promptly abandoned by their crews, who jumped ship to seek fortunes in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Ship captains found themselves stranded with hulls full of cargo and few hands to man the sails.

Because long-distance voyages in the 19th century were extremely hazardous and physically punishing, few ordinary men were willing to volunteer for the sea. Compounding the situation was strict federal legislation dating back to 1790, which made it a punishable crime for a sailor to leave a ship before the end of his contracted voyage. Although originally intended to maintain order in the merchant marine, the law effectively created an inescapable trap. Once a sailor signed a ship’s register, he was legally bound to the vessel under pain of imprisonment, regardless of how his signature had been obtained. Desperate sea captains, in urgent need of crews, were prompted to secure men by any means necessary—even if it meant resorting to outright kidnapping through brute force, liquor, or drugs.

…

As Merriam-Webster notes, this unscrupulous practice became inextricably linked with one particular Chinese port: Shanghai, newly opened to foreign trade after the Opium War of 1840, was a far-flung and dangerous destination for American shipping, and an unpopular one among seamen because of the difficulty of securing return passage. Because of the scarcity of willing men for these voyages, many kidnapped sailors ended up on ships bound for China, and “shanghaiing” became the universal name for the act itself regardless of the destination.

…

“Shanghai” occupies a special category as a true toponymic verb—a word born directly from a geographic location. It captures a universal human experience: the sudden realization that one has been tricked or forced into something they never intended.

Don’t Let Yourself Get Shanghaied in the Mandarin Field

We Mandarin field language learners should be in the Mandarin field to glorify Jehovah and to share Bible truth with Mandarin-speaking people. Let us not allow ourselves to be shanghaied or manipulated into glorifying worldly Chinese culture by those who love this merely human culture for its own sake, or by those who are irrationally attached to the long-standing cultural traditions related to Chinese characters.

As this year’s convention reminded us, Jesus did not let anyone shanghai him into supporting the traditions of his day that made it significantly more difficult than it should have been for people to serve God, such as the traditions related to the Sabbath, which affected people one day a week. So, as Jesus’ followers, neither should we allow ourselves to be deceived or pressured into supporting—rather than just tolerating when they can’t be avoided—the traditions related to Chinese characters, which unnecessarily egregiously burden Mandarin field language learners every single day!

Categories
Culture Language Learning Science Theocratic

yuánzé

 

 

yuánzé+ (yuán·zé original · rule → [principle] 原则 原則) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”. 📖 📄 ➕ icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and ➕ Reveal + Symbols re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

One of the publications that is now recommended to be used on Bible studies is the Yǒngyuǎn Xiǎngshòu Měihǎo de Shēngmìng—Hùdòng‐Shì Shèngjīng Kèchéng ((Yǒng·yuǎn Eternally · {Far (in Time)} 永远 永遠) (Xiǎng·shòu Enjoy · Receive 享受) (Měi·hǎo Beautiful · Good 美好) (de ’s 的) (Shēngmìng Life 生命)—(Hù·dòng {Each Other} · Moving → [Interactive] 互动 互動)‐(Shì (Type 式) (Shèng·jīng Holy · Scriptures → [Bible] 圣经 聖經) (Kè·chéng Lessons · Procedure → [Course] 课程 課程) → [Enjoy Life Forever!—An Interactive Bible Course (lff)]) (Enjoy Life Forever! (lff)) book. This week’s MEotW, “yuánzé (yuán·zé original · rule → [principle] 原则 原則)”, appears in lesson 16, point 5 of this book:

English:

In addition to preaching the good news about God’s Kingdom, Jesus taught practical lessons.

Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)+ 🔗):

📖 📄 ➕ Chúle (Chú·le {eliminating → [besides]} · {to completion} 除了) xuānyáng (xuān·yáng declaring · {raising → [making known]} 宣扬 宣揚) Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor’s → [God’s]} → [God’s] 上帝) Wángguó (Wáng·guó King’s · Nation → [Kingdom] 王国 王國) de (’s 的) hǎo (good 好) xiāoxi (xiāo·xi disappearing · news → [news] 消息), Yēsū (Jesus 耶稣 耶穌) hái (also 还 還) jiàodǎo (jiào·dǎo taught · instructed 教导 教導) mínzhòng (mín·zhòng {the people} · {the multitude} 民众 民眾) wéirén+ (wéi·rén {acting as} · person → [conducting of oneself] 为人 為人)‐chǔshì (chǔ·shì {dealing with} · {generation → [world]} 处世 處世) de (’s 的) yuánzé (yuán·zé original · rules → [principles] 原则 原則).

Morphemic Breakdown

The first morpheme in this week’s MEotW, “yuán (origin; source; start | primary; original [→ [unprocessed; raw; crude | primitve; initial; basic]] | originally 原)”, means “origin; source; start”, or “primary; original”. Other expressions in which this morpheme appears include “qǐyuán (qǐ·yuán {rising → [starting]} · source → [origin] 起源/原)”, “yuánshǐ+ (yuán·shǐ original · beginning; starting [→ [primitive; primeval; primordial; proto-]] 原⧸元始)”, “yuányīn (yuán·yīn origin · cause; reason 原因)”, and “yuánzǐ+ (yuán·zǐ original · {small and hard thing} → [atom | atomic] 原子)”.

The other morpheme “zé (rule; regulation | standard; norm; criterion | then; {in that case} | {indeed (indicating concession)}; {in contrast/comparison} | [mw for written items] 则 則)” means “rule; regulation” in this context, with “standard; norm; criterion” being a related meaning. Other Mandarin expressions that make use of it include “fǎzé (fǎ·zé law · rule; regulation; principle [→ [formula | standard method | binding agreement]] 法则 法則)”, “fǒuzé+ (fǒu·zé (if) not · {(according with) rule/regulation/standard/criterion} → [otherwise; if not; or else] 否则 否則)”, “zhǔnzé (zhǔn·zé standards · rules [→ [norms; standards; criteria]] 准则 準則)”, and “yǐ (use 以)‐shēn (body → [self] 身)‐zuò ({to be} 作)‐zé+ (standard → [example] 则 則)”.

So, the constituent morphemes in “yuánzé (yuán·zé original · rule → [principle] 原则 原則)” literally mean “original rule”, and taken together, they are used to effectively mean “principle”.

Original Rules, First Principles

Showing that “original rules” is a good way to describe what principles are, the April 15, 2002 issue of The Watchtower says:

Principles are living, essential truths, and wise Christians learn to love them. …How do principles differ from laws? Principles provide the basis for laws. Rules, which tend to be specific, may be for some particular time or situation, but principles are timeless. …Divine principles do not become outdated or pass away.

Related to this, Wikipedia provides this summary about “first principles thinking”:

“First principles thinking” consists of decomposing things down to the fundamental axioms [Wordnik entry] in the given arena, before reasoning up by asking which ones are relevant to the question at hand, then cross-referencing conclusions based on chosen axioms and making sure conclusions do not violate any fundamental laws.

Following principles is harder than, but also better than, just following the literal letter of the law, or the rigid traditions handed down from dead imperfect humans, or the canned procedures that may or may not be appropriate for ever-changing and ever-developing situations, or the broad, easy-to-follow road that “everyone else” is on, but that is leading off into destruction.—Matthew 7:13, 14.

Why is following principles harder than following these other things? As Romans 12:1, 2 shows, understanding and following right principles requires us to use our “power of reason”, to even ‘make our minds over’, so that we may prove to ourselves and get to be in harmony with “the good and acceptable and perfect will of God”. When we succeed at being in harmony with God’s will, though, we experience many matchless blessings and benefits, because “who is like Jehovah our God”?—Psalm 113:5.

A Principle for Language Learning

In the Mandarin language field, “speech is primary, writing is secondary” is an important principle of linguistics (language science) that we need to follow. This has been corroborated by the Source, the Origin, of language itself, Jehovah God, in his Word:

For if the trumpet sounds an indistinct call, who will get ready for battle? In the same way, unless you with the tongue use speech that is easily understood, how will anyone know what is being said? You will, in fact, be speaking into the air. It may be that there are many kinds of speech in the world, and yet no kind is without meaning. For if I do not understand the sense of the speech, I will be a foreigner to the one speaking, and the one speaking will be a foreigner to me.
—1 Corinthians 14:8–11

Yes, in the Mandarin language field, we need to as a matter of principle focus first on understandable Mandarin speech, since Jehovah himself made speech to be the original form of any human language. Even if they have become a matter of proud, deeply entrenched cultural tradition, Chinese characters are in principle just a system invented by humans to write down speech, which remains primary.

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus / Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)+ resource for the Enjoy Life Forever! book is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Enjoy Life Forever! book is:

More Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)+ web material based on the Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus / Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)+ web resource as time allows.