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:
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, the original form of the Mandarin language, not on the Chinese characters mandated by mere human tradition.
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.