fǎn’ér (fǎn’·ér {turning [(it/that…)] over → [on the contrary; instead]} · {but (rather); yet; on the other hand} 反而) 👈🏼 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.]
We in the Mandarin field should keep in mind that many Mandarin-speaking people were taught to believe in evolution, and thus tend to not believe in God. The Shēngmìng Láizì Chuàngzào Ma? ((Shēngmìng Life 生命) (Lái·zì Came · From 来自 來自) (Chuàng·zào Initiating · {Making, Creating} → [Creating] 创造 創造) (Ma [? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)? → [Was Life Created? (lc)]) (Was Life Created? (lc)) brochure and the Shēngmìng de Qǐyuán—Zhíde Sīkǎo de Wǔ Ge Wèntí ((Shēngmìng Life 生命) (de ’s 的) (Qǐ·yuán {Rising → [Starting]} · Source → [Origin] 起源/原)—(Zhí·de Worth · Getting → [Worth] 值得) (Sī·kǎo {Thinking About} · Examining 思考) (de ’s 的) (Wǔ Five 五) (Ge [mw] 个 個/个) (Wèn·tí Asking · Subjects → [Questions] 问题 問題) → [The Origin of Life—Five Questions Worth Asking (lf)]) (The Origin of Life—Five Questions Worth Asking (lf)) brochure were originally published back in 2010, but they are still considered current publications, and relatively recently, the English version of the Was Life Created? brochure was updated to the December 2022 Printing, and the Mandarin version of it was updated to the February 2023 Printing. So, it would be good for us to consider some of the expressions used in the Mandarin versions of the Was Life Created? and Origin of Life brochures, which can be so helpful when discussing the fundamentally important question of whether life was created.
Being Contrary
This week’s MEotW, “fǎn’ér (fǎn’·ér {turning [(it/that…)] over → [on the contrary; instead]} · {but (rather); yet; on the other hand} 反而)”, occurs in the 13th paragraph in the QUESTION 1 section of the Origin of Life brochure, which section is entitled, in English, “How Did Life Begin?”:
Similarly, if scientists ever did construct a cell, they would accomplish something truly amazing—but would they prove that the cell could be made by accident? If anything, they would prove the very opposite, would they not?
Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus):
📖 📄 📘 Tóngyàng (Tóng·yàng (in the) same · {form → [way]} 同样 同樣), jiǎrú (jiǎ·rú {being artificial} · {as if} → [supposing] 假如) kēxué‐jiā ((kē·xué {branches of study} · learning → [science] 科学 科學)‐(jiā -ists 家) → [scientists]) zhēnde (zhēn·de really · ’s 真的) néng ({were able} 能) zàochū (zào·chū {to build} · out 造出) yí (one 一) ge ([mw] 个 個/个) xìbāo (xì·bāo tiny · womb → [cell] 细胞 細胞), nà (that 那) dāngrán (dāng·rán should · -ly → [of course] 当然 當然) shì ({would be} 是) yí (one 一) xiàng ({item of} 项 項) wěijǔ (wěi·jǔ great · {raising → [act]} → [magnificent feat] 伟举 偉舉), dàn (but 但) zhè (this 这 這) kěyǐ (kě·yǐ could · [suf] 可以) zhèngmíng (zhèng·míng prove · {to be clear} 证明 證明) xìbāo (xì·bāo tiny · womb → [cell] 细胞 細胞) néng (could 能) pèngqiǎo (pèng·qiǎo {having bumped into} · {being coincidental} → [by chance] 碰巧) chǎnshēng (chǎn·shēng {be given birth to → [be produced]} · {be given birth to → [be caused to exist]} → [be brought into being] 产生 產生) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)? Qíshí (Qí·shí its · {being solid → [actuality]} → [actually] 其实 其實), zhè (this 这 這) fǎn’ér (fǎn’·ér {turning (it) over → [instead]} · {on the other hand} 反而) zhèngmíng (zhèng·míng {would prove} · {to be clear} 证明 證明) xìbāo (xì·bāo tiny · womb → [cell] 细胞 細胞) bú (not 不) shì (is 是) pèngqiǎo (pèng·qiǎo {having bumped into} · {being coincidental} → [by chance] 碰巧) chǎnshēng (chǎn·shēng {given birth to → [produced]} · {given birth to → [caused to exist]} → [brought into being] 产生 產生) de ({’s (thing)} 的), duì (towards → [correct] 对 對) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)?
The “fǎn ({turn over [→ [reverse | returned; countered | revolted; rebelled | oppose; combat | upside down; inside out; in the reverse direction | on the contrary; instead | anti-]]} 反)” in “fǎn’ér (fǎn’·ér {turning [(it/that…)] over → [on the contrary; instead]} · {but (rather); yet; on the other hand} 反而)” literally means “turning (it/that…) over”, and it effectively means “on the contrary; instead”. The “ér (and; {and yet} | {but (rather)}; {on the other hand} | thus | {so as to} 而)” here means “on the other hand”.
To Obey or Not to Obey
While we as God’s people should be “ready to obey”, especially when it comes to direction from him, his Word, and his organization, we should do our obeying intentionally and thoughtfully, with our “power of reason”. (James 3:17; Romans 12:1) We should not just obey from nothing more than habitual or mindless reflex, otherwise, in this world that is filled with misinformation and controlled by Satan the Devil, we may become “like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and blown about”, and we may allow ourselves to be “molded by this system of things”.—James 1:6; Romans 12:2.
Interestingly, when it comes to obedience, scientific studies suggest that having a naturally agreeable personality may make one more likely to go along with someone’s instructions to do something harmful:
In a previous post I discussed Stanley Milgram’s famous obedience experiments and what they say about the conditions that lead people to make destructive, harmful choices. It turns out they’re the same conditions that most of us experience in everyday life when it comes to making choices more or less damaging to the environment—and they prompt us to take the more destructive path.
Now a new study using a variation of Milgram’s experiments shows that people with more agreeable, conscientious personalities are more likely to make harmful choices. In these new obedience experiments, people with more social graces were the ones who complied with the experimenter’s wishes and delivered electric shocks they believed could harm an innocent person. By contrast, people with more contrarian, less agreeable personalities were more likely to refuse to hurt other people when told to do so.
Yes, when faced with wrong or harmful directions or information, it would actually be good for us to be “contrarian” or even “disobedient” in order to ultimately be more truly obedient to and in harmony with Jehovah and his right ways. In this, we have Jesus’ example to guide us. Jesus absolutely did not just “go along to get along” when it came to human ideas and traditions that were contrary to God’s principles and ways. While the Pharisees, etc. viewed Jesus as “contrarian” and “difficult”, Jehovah approved of him.
Going Along with the World
Often, in the world’s media, some exquisitely designed thing in the natural world will be featured, and then the comment will be something like “Isn’t it amazing what evolution produced?” Such comments are classic examples of the subtle brainwashing that repeatedly, persistently occurs in Satan’s world to plant in people preconceived notions that cause them to not give Jehovah the glory he deserves as the Creator.—Revelation 4:11
To illustrate, suppose that a man composes a poem and draws a picture to express his love for a woman. However, when the woman receives these, she assumes that he had just copied them from a greeting card—even though the man had actually done the composing and drawing out of love for her, because of her preconceived notions that no one she could conceivably meet actually does such things for real, the woman fails to appreciate the man’s exceptional heartfelt expression of love, and she fails to give him the credit he deserves for what he actually did. Similarly, even though Jehovah actually out of love created all the wonderful things in the natural world, because of the preconceived notions that Satan has industriously and on an industrial scale worked to implant in people’s minds, many just attribute these wonderful things to evolution, to blind chance, and they fail to give Jehovah the glory he deserves as the Creator. They are like the Israelites mentioned in Isaiah 65:11:
But you are among those forsaking Jehovah,
Those forgetting my holy mountain,
Those setting a table for the god of Good Luck,
And those filling up cups of mixed wine for the god of Destiny.
Actually, though, despite the deeply ingrained preconceived notions that Satan has spread that cause many to assume that evolution produced the wonders found in nature, the obvious logical conclusion is really that the amazingly designed things in the natural world are—fǎn’ér (fǎn’·ér {turning (that) over → [on the contrary]} · {on the other hand} 反而)—clear evidence of an amazing Designer. As the Was Life Created? brochure quotes microbiologist Michael J. Behe as saying:
The strong appearance of design [in nature] allows a disarmingly simple argument: if it looks, walks and quacks like a duck, then, absent compelling evidence to the contrary, we have warrant to conclude it’s a duck. …Design should not be overlooked simply because it’s so obvious.
Preconceived Notions About Learning Mandarin
Us Mandarin field language learners also have to contend with erroneous preconceived notions that are widespread in Satan’s world. For example, Chinese characters are traditionally considered by many to be the primary, most important aspect of the Mandarin language. However, linguists (language scientists) understand that actually, writing fǎn’ér (fǎn’·ér {turning (that) over → [on the contrary]} · {on the other hand} 反而) is only secondary, and that speech is actually the primary aspect of any human language. Also, while most have been conditioned to view Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) as just a pronunciation aid, it fǎn’ér (fǎn’·ér {turning (that) over → [on the contrary]} · {on the other hand} 反而) qualifies as and functions well as a full writing system for Modern Standard Mandarin.
Accepting these linguistic truths will help us Mandarin field language learners to be better equipped to help honest-hearted Mandarin-speakers to get past the evolution-normalizing conditioning and brainwashing from Satan’s world, and to come to appreciate that the wonderfully designed things in the natural world fǎn’ér (fǎn’·ér {turning (that) over → [on the contrary]} · {on the other hand} 反而) are actually the obvious evidence of a wonderful Designer.
For convenience:
The direct link for the current-generation Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Origin of Life brochure is:
The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Origin of Life brochure is:
More Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material based on the Mandarin Origin of Life brochure will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.
