Category: History

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Current Events History Theocratic

jūn

jūn ({armed forces}; army; troops [→ [military]] 军 軍) ← 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, jw.org was featuring the article “World Military Spending Surpasses $2 Trillion—What Does the Bible Say?”. Interestingly, the Mandarin version of this article uses a few different expressions to translate the sense of “military spending”:

  • jūnshì (jūn·shì {armed forces → [military]} · affairs 军事 軍事) zhīchū (zhī·chū supporting · out → [spending] 支出)
  • jūnfèi (jūn·fèi {armed forces → [military]} · {expending → [expenditures]} 军费 軍費) kāizhī (kāi·zhī {opening → [paying]} · supporting → [spending] 开支 開支)
  • jūnshì (jūn·shì {armed forces → [military]} · affairs 军事 軍事) kāizhī (kāi·zhī {opening → [paying]} · supporting → [spending] 开支 開支)
  • jūnshì (jūn·shì {armed forces → [military]} · affairs 军事 軍事) huāfèi (huā·fèi {flowering of → [spending of]} · {expendings → [expenditures]} → [spending] 花费 花費)
  • jūnfèi (jūn·fèi {armed forces → [military]} · {expending → [expenditures]} 军费 軍費) zhīchū (zhī·chū supporting · out → [spending] 支出)

These all have in common the morpheme “jūn ({armed forces}; army; troops [→ [military]] 军 軍)”, which is this week’s MEotW.

Usage Examples

Here are a couple of examples of how the above expressions are used in the above-mentioned article:

English:

World military spending reached a record high of 2.24 trillion dollars (U.S.) in 2022, largely in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 2022 nián (year 年 年/秊) quánqiú (quán·qiú whole · globe → [worldwide] 全球) jūnfèi (jūn·fèi {armed forces → [military]} · {expending → [expenditures]} 军费 軍費) kāizhī (kāi·zhī {opening → [paying]} · supporting → [spending] 开支 開支) yǐ (already 已) chuàng ({achieved (for the first time)} 创 創/刱/剏/剙) 2.24 wàn ({ten thousand} 万 萬/万) yì ({hundred million} 亿 億) (2.24 zhào ({trillion (traditional/Taiwan)} 兆)) Měiyuán (Měi·yuán American · {yuan’s (monetary unit of China) → [dollars’]} 美国 美國) xīn (new 新) gāo (high 高); zuì (most 最 最/㝡) zhíjiē (zhí·jiē {being straight} · connecting → [direct] 直接) de (’s 的) yuányīn (yuán·yīn origin · reason 原因) shì (was 是) Éluósī (Russia 俄罗斯 俄羅斯) rùqīn (rù·qīn entering · invading → [invading] 入侵) Wūkèlán (Ukraine 乌克兰 烏克蘭).

English:

“The continuous rise in global military expenditure in recent years is a sign that we are living in an increasingly insecure world”

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 “Jìnnián (Jìn·nián {close → [recent]} · years 近年) lái ({coming from} → [since] (them) 来 來), quánqiú (quán·qiú whole · globe → [worldwide] 全球) jūnshì (jūn·shì {armed forces → [military]} · affairs 军事 軍事) kāizhī (kāi·zhī {opening → [paying]} · supporting → [spending] 开支 開支) chíxù (chí·xù {has held} · {has continued} 持续 持續) zēngzhǎng (zēng·zhǎng increasing · growing 增长 增長), biǎomíng (biǎo·míng showing · {to be clear} 表明) wǒmen (wǒ·men we · [pl] 我们 我們) shēnghuó ({are living} 生活) zài (in 在) yí (one 一) ge ([mw] 个 個/个) yuè‐lái‐yuè ((yuè {jumping over} 越) (lái coming 来 來) (yuè {jumping over} 越)) → [more and more]) bù (not 不) ānquán (ān·quán safe · whole → [secure] 安全) de (’s 的) shìjiè (shì·jiè {generation → [world]} · extent → [world] 世界) zhōng (within 中).”

Jehovah of Armies

In the Bible, Jehovah God is sometimes called “tiānjūn (tiān·jūn heaven’s · armies 天军 天軍) de (’ 的) Tǒngshuài (Tǒng·shuài {Gathered Together (Things) → [Whole System]} · Commander-in-Chief 统帅 統帥) Yēhéhuá (Jehovah 耶和华 耶和華)” (“Jehovah of armies”), which incorporates the “jūn ({armed forces}; army; troops [→ [military]] 军 軍)” used in the expressions listed above. For example, when he faced Goliath, David used this expression to show that he trusted in Jehovah God, not in human weapons.—1 Samuel 17:45 (English, Mandarin).

“tiānjūn de Tǒngshuài Yēhéhuá” in 1 Samuel 17:45 (NWT (nwtsty), WOL CHS+Pinyin)

Jehovah causes himself to become what he needs to be, and when he needs to lead his armies of angels into battle, he is invincible. In fact, the Bible records that one time, just one of Jehovah’s angels wiped out 185,000 enemy soldiers in one night. (2 Kings 19:35) When the time comes for “the war of the great day of God the Almighty”, all the prodigious military spending of all the human nations will not prevent them from being destroyed to clear the way for God’s Kingdom to make the earth into a peaceful paradise.—Revelation 16:14.

Categories
Culture History Theocratic

Shàngtiān

Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven [→ [God]]} → [Heaven; Providence; God] 上天) ← 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, jw.org was featuring an invitation to attend an “Exercise Patience”! 2023 convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In one of the places where the English version of this invitation uses the word “God”, the Mandarin version uses this week’s MEotW, “Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven [→ [God]]} → [Heaven; Providence; God] 上天)”, which literally means “Above’s Heaven”:

“Shàngtiān” used on jw.org, on the page inviting people to attend the 2023 convention

English:

If you pray to God for help, what can you expect?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Nǐ ((if) you 你) xiàng (to 向 向/曏/嚮) Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven → [God]} → [God] 上天) qiúzhù (qiú·zhù request · {helping → [help]} 求助), tā (he 他) huì (will 会 會) bāngzhù (help 帮助 幫助) nǐ (you 你) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)?

Note that this jw.org web page uses the personal pronoun “tā (he 他)” (“he”) to refer to “Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven → [God]} → [God] 上天)”, showing that “Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven → [God]} → [God] 上天)” here refers to a person, not to an abstract concept or to a place like heaven. Also, the wording shown in the above screenshot indicates that “Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven → [God]} → [God] 上天)” here refers to “Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝)”, that is, God.

Addressing People Who Don’t Know God Well

Note also that this web page written using Chinese characters and invitating people to the convention is largely directed towards the Chinese people of the world, who may know God only as an abstract concept, and not so much as a person.

Another example of official material that uses “Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven [→ [God]]} → [Heaven; Providence; God] 上天)” when addressing someone who did not know God well is the Mandarin New World Translation Bible’s rendering of Daniel’s words to Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:26:

“Shàngtiān” in Daniel 4:26 (NWT (nwtsty), WOL CHS+Pinyin)

Here, “Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven [→ [God]]} → [Heaven; Providence; God] 上天)” corresponds with the English expression “the heavens” in the phrase “after you come to know that the heavens are ruling”.—Daniel 4:26 (English).

The Chinese People’s View of God Over Time

As mentioned in the MEotW post on “Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝)”:

The Lasting Peace brochure has a box explaining how the concept of Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝) has been viewed in China throughout its history.

Here is a quote from that box that relates how the Chinese came to view the “Tiān (Heaven [→ [God]] 天)” in “Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven [→ [God]]} → [Heaven; Providence; God] 上天)”, and how that affected their understanding of Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝):

…according to Chinese historical records, between three and four thousand years ago, during the Xia and Shang dynasties, the Chinese were already worshipping one supreme deity. The book The Religious History of China explains that they “reckoned that between heaven and earth there was a principal God who stood supreme and had absolute control over all things. . . . This supreme deity came to be called Di, or Shang-di, during the Shang Dynasty, and was known as Tien [heaven], or Tien-di [Emperor in Heaven], during the Zhou Dynasty [11th century to 256 B.C.E.].” Thus, the ancient Chinese believed in the existence of a Supreme Sovereign of the universe.

During the Spring and Autumn period (c. 722-481 B.C.E.) and the Warring States period (c. 480-221 B.C.E.), Confucianism and Taoism gained ascendancy. Influenced by these two schools of thought, the worship of Shang-di was gradually replaced by the abstract idea of reverence for Tien. By the Han dynasty (202 B.C.E.–221 C.E.), under the dominance of Confucianism, the Chinese became engrossed in moral culture and social order, and the concept of Shang-di suffered another setback. With the spread of Buddhism into China, the Chinese no longer held to the belief of a Creator who is in control of the universe, but they accepted Heaven, or Providence, as the first cause of all things. Since then, the concept of God, or Shang-di, has become something completely foreign to most Chinese.

Since Chinese people in the world have this historical and cultural background that stretches back for millennia, it is understandable why the organization uses “Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven → [God]} → [God] 上天)” to refer to God when addressing them. Perhaps we can think of “Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven → [God]} → [God] 上天)” as an acceptable stepping stone between the impersonal “Tiān (Heaven [→ [God]] 天)” and “Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝)”. Hopefully, we will be able to help many more Chinese people to get to know and appreciate Jehovah God as a person, and to eventually get accustomed to referring to him as “Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝)”, and as “Yēhéhuá (Jehovah 耶和华 耶和華)”.

Categories
Culture History Language Learning Technology Theocratic

jiùsuàn

jiùsuàn (jiù·suàn {even if} · {figuring → [considering]} 就算) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

I have long especially liked 1 Corinthians 13. It contains counsel on what really does and doesn’t matter in life, an extensive description and definition of the most important kind of love, and a sublime discussion about the need to become complete, mature, as a person. As these apply to life in general, so too do they apply to our lives as Mandarin field language learners.

As Mandarin field language learners, it can benefit us greatly to consider what we can learn from 1 Corinthians 13, and along the way, we can also consider some of the Mandarin expressions used in that chapter in the current version of the Mandarin New World Translation Bible (nwtsty).

“If…”

The second Mandarin expression that occurs in verse 1 (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus) of 1 Corinthians 13 (after “Wǒ (I 我)”) is this week’s MEotW, “jiùsuàn (jiù·suàn {even if} · {figuring → [considering]} 就算)”.

Screenshot of “jiùsuàn” in 1 Co. 13:1 (nwtsty, CHS+_Pīnyīn_ WOL)

(Dark mode for the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY (WOL) website, as shown in the above image, can be enabled in the Safari web browser by using the Noir Safari extension.)

“Jiù (then; already | exactly | regarding | immediately | merely | {move towards} | {engage in} | accomplish; make | accommodate | {go with} | {even if} 就)” can mean many different things, as can be seen from its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus information. The meaning that seems to apply in “jiùsuàn (jiù·suàn {even if} · {figuring → [considering]} 就算)” is “even if”.

Calculating…

As for “suàn (calculate; compute; figure | count (v) [→ [consider/regard as]] 算)”, one of its meanings is “calculate”. (In fact, a “jìsuàn jī ((jì·suàn computing · calculating 计算 計算) (jī machine 机 機/机) → [computer | calculator (Taiwan)])” is a computer, or a calculator.)

There certainly is a long history of calculating done in the long history of China, such as all the calculating done to save face, advance ambitions, and acquire status in the official bureaucracy and in the imperial court. Perhaps because of Chinese cultural tradition or out of habit inherited from the world, some may have a tendency to do similar calculating in the Mandarin field. Rather than focusing on the work of praising Jehovah and preaching to and teaching Mandarin-speaking ones, some might be focusing on ways to receive “glory from one another”.—John 5:44.

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 admonishes us though, that jiùsuàn (jiù·suàn {even if} · {figuring → [considering]} 就算) this is done, even if such calculating is done to figure in things like ‘speaking in the tongues of men and of angels’, ‘understanding…all knowledge’ (perhaps, for example, knowledge of Chinese characters), various boastworthy deeds, etc., if one does not have love, then all those other things mean nothing:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a clanging gong or a clashing cymbal. 2 And if I have the gift of prophecy and understand all the sacred secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my belongings to feed others, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I do not benefit at all.

Let us, then, examine our hearts to make sure that we avoid letting pride be our motivation. Instead, let us cultivate love for Jehovah and for our Mandarin-speaking neighbours, so that love is what motivates us in our efforts to learn the language and serve in the Mandarin field.