Category: Current Events

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jūnduì

jūnduì (jūn·duì {armed forces}; army · {row of people → [team; group; unit]} → [armed forces; army; troops] 军队 軍隊) 👈🏼 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 None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

Recently, jw.org featured the video “I Put Down My Rifle”, perhaps at least partially due to the increasing military activity in the world. A significant expression that appears in the Mandarin version of this video is this week’s MEotW, “jūnduì (jūn·duì {armed forces}; army · {row of people → [team; group; unit]} → [armed forces; army; troops] 军队 軍隊)”. For example, this passage begins at around the 0:18 mark:

English:

I lived the army 24/7. The clothes I wore, the people I associated with—everything was military.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Wǒ (I 我) shēnshang (shēn·shang {body → [self]} · upon 身上) chuān ({pierced through} → [was dressed in] 穿) de ({’s (clothes)} 的), wǒ (my 我) shēnbiān (shēn·biān {body → [self]} · beside → [beside me] 身边 身邊) de (’s 的) rén (people 人)—yíqiè (yí·qiè {one (whole)} · {corresponding (set)} → [everything] 一切) dōu (all 都) gēn (with 跟) jūnduì (jūn·duì {armed forces} · {row of people → [team]} → [armed forces] 军队 軍隊) yǒuguān (yǒu·guān had · {closing with → [connection]} 有关 有關). Jūnduì (Jūn·duì army · {row of people → [team]} → [the army] 军队 軍隊) jiùshì (jiù·shì exactly · was 就是) wǒ (my 我) shēnghuó (shēng·huó life · living 生活) de (’s 的) quánbù (quán·bù entire · part → [all] 全部).

Screenshot of “Jūnduì” from around 0:26 of the Mandarin version of the video “I Put Down My Rifle”

(By the way, on a technical note, the Mandarin version of this video is the first from the organization that I have come across that doesn’t have a usual type of subtitle track, that users can choose to have superimposed on top of the video picture by apps, etc. that play the video. Instead, the subtitles, rendered in Chinese characters, seem to be “baked into” the actual video picture—there is no way to choose whether to display the Chinese subtitles or not. Perhaps this was done to ensure that viewers of the Mandarin video would be able to see the subtitles without first having to look for a setting that they would have to set.)

“We Are Jehovah’s Army!”

Interestingly, song 71 in our current songbook is called, in English, “We Are Jehovah’s Army!”. The Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus) title, “Yēhéhuá (Jehovah 耶和华 耶和華) de (’s 的) Yīngyǒng (Yīng·yǒng {Are Flowers → [Are Outstanding Persons]} · Valiant → [Valiant] 英勇) Zhànshì (Zhàn·shì War · Soldiers → [Soldiers] 战士 戰士)”, is not a direct translation, but rather translates more like “Jehovah’s Valiant Soldiers”.

It’s an often-used illustration that our efforts in Jehovah’s service can be likened to spiritual warfare. (2 Corinthians 10:3–5; Ephesians 6:11–18) The experience highlighted in the video mentioned above emphasizes to us that while training for physical warfare in the service of the human nations of this world encourages crudeness and aggression, serving Jehovah God and fighting for peace and for the truth means showing kindness and being motivated by love. And while some say that part of the appeal of joining a human worldly jūnduì (jūn·duì army · {row of people → [team]} → [army] 军队 軍隊) is the fulfilment that comes from being part of something bigger than yourself, no family is bigger than Jehovah’s universal family, and no purpose is greater than that of doing God’s will as one of his valiant soldiers.—Ecclesiastes 12:13.

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Culture Current Events Experiences History Theocratic

lǐngxiù

lǐngxiù (lǐng·xiù {neck → [collar]} · sleeves → [leader] 领袖 領袖) 👈🏼 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 None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

At the time of this writing, with the 2024 United States presidential election looming, jw.org was featuring the article “Which Leader Will You Choose?—What Does the Bible Say?”. The Mandarin version of this article uses this week’s MEotW, “lǐngxiù (lǐng·xiù {neck → [collar]} · sleeves → [leader] 领袖 領袖)”, to translate the English word “leader”. For example:

English:

The Bible explains that God has appointed a most capable and trustworthy leader: Jesus Christ.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) shuō (says 说 說/説) Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝) yǐjing (yǐ·jing already · {has gone through} 已经 已經) wěirèn (wěi·rèn designating · {giving free reign to → [appointing]} 委任) Yēsū (Jesus 耶稣 耶穌) Jīdū (Christ 基督) zuò ({to be} 做) Lǐngxiù (Lǐng·xiù {Neck → [Collar]} · Sleeves → [Leader] 领袖 領袖), tā (he 他) shì (is 是) zuì (most 最 最/㝡) xiánmíng (xián·míng capable · {bright → [understanding]} → [wise and capable] 贤明 賢明) de (’s 的) tǒngzhìzhě (tǒng·zhì·zhě {gathering together → [commanding]} · ruling · person → [ruler] 统治者 統治者), zhíde (zhí·de worth · getting → [deserving of] 值得) xìnrèn (xìn·rèn {being believed} · {being given free reign → [being trusted]} 信任).

Analyzing Mandarin words at the morpheme level often reveals useful and interesting information, but the morphemes in “lǐngxiù (lǐng·xiù {neck → [collar]} · sleeves → [leader] 领袖 領袖)” seem…odd, considering what they are taken to mean when put together. “Lǐng (neck [→ [collar] → [lead; usher | have jurisdiction over; be in possession of]] | receive; draw; get; take; accept | understand; comprehend; grasp 领 領)” has an original literal meaning of “neck”, from which an effective meaning of “collar” understandably emerged. Somehow, though, another effective meaning that emerged for this morpheme is “to lead; to usher (as in “usher guests into the room”)”. The other morpheme “xiù (sleeve | {tuck inside the sleeve} 袖/褎)” literally means “sleeve”, and does not have an effective meaning on its own that’s obviously related to leadership. How then, did the combination of these two morphemes end up effectively meaning “leader”?

“Clothes Make the Man”?

My mother was a schoolteacher in China, and when I asked her about this seemingly strange combination of morphemes, she said that she wasn’t totally sure about the why or how of it, but that a teacher of hers had explained that to the ancient Chinese, the collar and sleeves of a piece of clothing were the most important indicators of how fit for purpose that piece of clothing was. Thus (if that teacher was not just expressing a baseless personal opinion on the matter), it may be that “lǐngxiù (lǐng·xiù {neck → [collar]} · sleeves → [leader] 领袖 領袖)” effectively meaning “leader” is connected to the idea behind the English saying “clothes make the man”, that is, that one’s clothes send a message about what kind of person one is. Sometimes, for example, people are even nicknamed because of what they wear, like the redcoats and brownshirts of history, or the redshirts and browncoats of fiction. A possibly related factor is that on military uniforms especially, symbols of rank or status are often placed on the collar or sleeves or both. So, in old China, perhaps leaders were seen as those wearing clothing with certain kinds of collars or sleeves, resulting in “lǐngxiù (lǐng·xiù {neck → [collar]} · sleeves → [leader] 领袖 領袖)” (“collar sleeves”) becoming a Mandarin synecdoche referring to “leader”. (For comparison, a common English synecdoche is “suits”, which is used to refer to “businessmen”.)

Another possible explanation is that perhaps the piece of clothing in question in “lǐngxiù (lǐng·xiù {neck → [collar]} · sleeves → [leader] 领袖 領袖)” is a metaphor for the people as a whole, and that the collar and sleeves, being the parts of a piece of clothing that the Chinese were said to believe set the tone for it, thus represent the leader or leaders of the people. If any of you have any other information or ideas about why or how the morphemes in “lǐngxiù (lǐng·xiù {neck → [collar]} · sleeves → [leader] 领袖 領袖)” came to combine to mean “leader”, please share in the comments.

“The Emperors Have No Clothes”

Regardless of how the combination of “lǐng (neck [→ [collar] → [lead; usher | have jurisdiction over; be in possession of]] | receive; draw; get; take; accept | understand; comprehend; grasp 领 領)” and “xiù (sleeve | {tuck inside the sleeve} 袖/褎)” came to effectively mean “leader”, “lǐngxiù (lǐng·xiù {neck → [collar]} · sleeves → [leader] 领袖 領袖)” does indeed mean that to today’s Mandarin-speakers—to them, however they do so, “collar” and “sleeves” do indeed combine to make “leader”. Unfortunately—to allude to another well-known English saying—the human Emperors of this world “have no clothes”—there is no real basis for the claims that they are worthy to be mankind’s leaders.

In contrast, Jehovah God has chosen Jesus as his King, and Jesus has shown himself to have real qualifications, far beyond those involving mere apparel and status symbols. While the world is embroiled in various struggles—from violent wars to comparatively nonviolent elections—over who will gain power to rule, it is our privilege to tell people in the Mandarin field about the good news about God’s Kingdom, and about God’s King, Jesus Christ himself. Being no mere figurehead, he and his Kingdom will “crush and put an end to” the human governments of Satan’s world and cause the whole earth to actually become the peaceful, secure paradise that God wants it be.—Daniel 2:44; 1 John 5:19; Matthew 6:10.

Categories
Current Events Science Theocratic

chōngtū

chōngtū (chōng·tū {dashing → [clashing]} · {chimney → [dashing forward; charging]} → [conflicting; clashing] 冲突 衝突) ← 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 None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

War has certainly been a prominent subject in the news lately. Here are a couple of recent headlines I found with a quick web search:

Why the World’s Biggest Powers Can’t Stop a Middle East War

Thinking the ‘unthinkable’: NATO wants Canada and allies to gear up for a conventional war

The looming shadow of a possible future war over Taiwan must also especially concern many people in the Mandarin field.

At the time of this writing, jw.org was featuring the article “When Will the Fighting Stop?—What Does the Bible Say?”. Where the English version of this article uses the expressions “fighting” or “conflicts”, the Mandarin version uses this week’s MEotW, “chōngtū (chōng·tū {dashing → [clashing]} · {chimney → [dashing forward; charging]} → [conflicting; clashing] 冲突 衝突)”. For example, here are the English and Mandarin titles of the article:

English:

When Will the Fighting Stop?—What Does the Bible Say?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Shìshang (Shì·shang {Generation → [World]} · Upon 世上) de (’s 的) Wǔzhuāng (Wǔ·zhuāng Militarily · {Dressed Up} → [Armed] 武装 武裝) Chōngtū (Chōng·tū {Dashings → [Clashings]} · {Chimneys → [Chargings]} → [Conflicts] 冲突 衝突) Huì (Will 会 會) Yǒu (Have 有) Píngxī (Píng·xī {Being Made to Be Flat, Level, Even → [Being Made to Be Peaceful]} · Ceasing → [Subsiding] 平息) de (’s 的) Yì (One 一) Tiān (Sky → [Day] 天) Ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)?

In addition to being used to refer to armed conflicts, “chōngtū (chōng·tū {dashing → [clashing]} · {chimney → [dashing forward; charging]} → [conflicting; clashing] 冲突 衝突)” can also be used to refer to other kinds of conflicts. For example, the section of the Was Life Created? brochure entitled “Science and the Genesis Account” in English and “Kēxué (Kē·xué {Branches of Study} · Learning → [Science] 科学 科學) yǔ (and 与 與/与) Chuàngshìjì (Chuàng·shì·jì {Initiating, Creating of} · {Generation → [World]} · Record → [Genesis] 创世记 創世記)” in Mandarin contains this statement:

English:

However, the real contradiction is, not between science and the Bible, but between science and the opinions of Christian Fundamentalists.

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

📖 📄 📘 Qíshí (Qí·shí its · {being solid → [actuality]} → [actually] 其实 其實), gēn (with 跟) kēxué (kē·xué {branches of study} · learning → [science] 科学 科學) yǒu (having 有) chōngtū (chōng·tū {dashing → [clashing]} · {chimney → [charging]} → [conflict] 冲突 衝突) de (’s 的) bú (not 不) shì (is 是) Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) de (’s 的) jìzǎi (jì·zǎi recorded · writing → [account] 记载 記載), ér ({but (rather)} 而) shì (are 是) mǒuxiē (mǒu·xiē certain · {indefinite number of} → [certain] 某些) rén (people 人) de (’s 的) guāndiǎn (guān·diǎn view·points 观点 觀點).

Morphemes and Related Expressions

The “chōng (charge; rush; dash [→ [clash; collide]] | {pour boiling water on} | rinse; flush [→ [develop (film)]] 冲 沖/衝)” in “chōngtū (chōng·tū {dashing → [clashing]} · {chimney → [dashing forward; charging]} → [conflicting; clashing] 冲突 衝突)” can mean “charge; rush; dash”, leading to an effective meaning of “clash”, which is what it means in “chōngtū (chōng·tū {dashing → [clashing]} · {chimney → [dashing forward; charging]} → [conflicting; clashing] 冲突 衝突)”. Other expressions that use this morpheme include “chōngjìn (chōng·jìn charge; rush; dash · {to advance; enter [into; in]} 冲进 沖/衝進)”, “chōngpò (chōng·pò charge; rush; dash · {to break (through)} 冲破 沖/衝破)”, and “chōngzǒu (chōng·zǒu rinse; flush · {to walk → [to go away]} 冲走 沖走)”.

Oddly, the “tū (chimney [→ [sticking out | dashing forward; charging [→ [sudden[ly]; unexpected[ly]]]]] 突)” in “chōngtū (chōng·tū {dashing → [clashing]} · {chimney → [dashing forward; charging]} → [conflicting; clashing] 冲突 衝突)” has a traditional literal meaning of “chimney”, which can lead to an effective meaning of “dashing forward” or “charging”, presumably reflecting how a chimney suddenly juts out of the roof of a house. This is what it means in “chōngtū (chōng·tū {dashing → [clashing]} · {chimney → [dashing forward; charging]} → [conflicting; clashing] 冲突 衝突)”. Other expressions that use this “tū (chimney [→ [sticking out | dashing forward; charging [→ [sudden[ly]; unexpected[ly]]]]] 突)” include “tūchù (tū·chù {chimney → [projecting]} · contacting (thing) → [synapse] 突触 突觸)”, “tūpò (tū·pò {chimney → [sticking out | dashing forward]} · {breaking → [through]} → [breaking through | breakthrough | surmounting; exceeding; overcoming] 突破)”, “tūrán (tū·rán {chimney → [dashing forward] → [sudden[ly]; abrupt[ly]]} · {-ly | like that} 突然)”, and past MEotW “tūbiàn (tū·biàn {chimney → [dashing forward] → [sudden[ly]; unexpected[ly]]} · changing [→ [mutation]] 突变 突變)”.

To Talk About a War to End All Wars

The above-mentioned jw.org article uses “chōngtū (chōng·tū {dashing → [clashing]} · {chimney → [dashing forward; charging]} → [conflicting; clashing] 冲突 衝突)” when it discusses how today’s wars show that the end of all war is near. Here are a couple of examples:

English:

Global conflicts today indicate that an end to all war is soon to come. These wars fulfill Bible prophecy about the time period in which we live. The Bible calls it “the conclusion of the system of things.”

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Shìshang (Shì·shang {generation → [world]} · upon 世上) de (’s 的) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng wars · contendings → [wars] 战争 戰爭) biǎomíng (biǎo·míng indicate · {to be clear} 表明) wǒmen (wǒ·men we · [pl] 我们 我們) zhèng ({just now} 正) shēnghuó ({are living} 生活) zài (in 在) Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) yùgào (yù·gào fore·told 预/豫告 預/豫告) de (’s 的) “mòqī (mò·qī end · period 末期)”, zhè (this 这 這) biǎoshì (biǎo·shì indicates · shows 表示) wǔzhuāng (wǔ·zhuāng militarily · {dressed up} → [armed] 武装 武裝) chōngtū (chōng·tū {dashings → [clashings]} · {chimneys → [chargings]} → [conflicts] 冲突 衝突) búduàn (bú·duàn not · {breaking off} → [being constant] 不断 不斷) de (’s 的) xiànxiàng (xiàn·xiàng appearing · appearance → [phenomenon] 现象 現象) jíjiāng (jí·jiāng {is near/close to being} · {will soon be} 即将 即將) zhōngzhǐ (zhōng·zhǐ ended · stopped 终止 終止).

English:

The Bible foretells the end of human conflicts. …by means of Armageddon, “the war of the great day of God the Almighty.”

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) yùgào (yù·gào fore·tells 预/豫告 預/豫告), Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝) huì (will 会 會) tōngguò (tōng·guò through · passing → [passing through] → [through] 通过 通過) “Quánnéng (Quán·néng All · Able → [Almighty] 全能) Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝) de (’s 的) dà (big → [great] 大) rìzi (rì·zi {sun → [day]} · [suf for nouns] 日子)” de (’s 的) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war] 战争 戰爭), yě (also 也) jiùshì (jiù·shì exactly · is 就是) “Hāmǐjíduōdùn (Armageddon 哈米吉多顿 哈米吉多頓)”, lái (come 来 來) zhōngzhǐ (zhōng·zhǐ {to end} · {to stop} 终止 終止) yíqiè (yí·qiè {one (whole)} · {corresponding (set of)} → [all] 一切) wǔzhuāng (wǔ·zhuāng militarily · {dressed up} → [armed] 武装 武裝) chōngtū (chōng·tū {dashings → [clashings]} · {chimneys → [chargings]} → [conflicts] 冲突 衝突).