Category: History

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Culture Experiences History Language Learning Names Science Theocratic

Gēlìyà

Gēlìyà (Go·liʹath 歌利亚 歌利亞) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

A few years back, I wrote up a brief web page listing reasons for producing Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), etc. material for the Imitate (ia) book. Some, especially some who grew up in the West, may have felt that this book is made up of “just stories”, and ones that they were already quite familiar with, at that. However, we must remember that Chinese Bible students may often have a different perspective regarding the Bible accounts that are made to come to life in the Imitate book. As that web page said:

  • Many Chinese people in the world have not been exposed to Bible accounts the way many Westerners have.
  • Also, I have heard that some, perhaps many, Chinese Bible students tend to approach their Bible studies like intellectual exercises for accumulating chōuxiàng (abstract) head knowledge as if for a school exam, rather than as training for their hearts for their own real lives.

Later, the web page touches on how some of the real-world benefits of good storytelling like that found in the Imitate book involve empathy:

  • …
    • The actress Natalie Portman once said, “I love acting. I think it’s the most amazing thing to be able to do. Your job is practicing empathy. You walk down the street imagining every person’s life.”
  • The Imitate book helps build Bible students’ empathy towards Bible characters, which in turn helps Bible students realize that others would feel empathy towards them as well if they imitated these Bible characters—not everyone will just think they’re crazy, like many worldly friends or family members might think.

While even fictional stories can have the benefits described in the links and the quote above, true stories from the Bible can have even greater benefits, including spiritual ones.

Besides the Imitate book, another book from Jehovah’s organization that relates Bible accounts is the Learn From the Bible (lfb) book. The letter from the Governing Body in this book says that, similarly to the Imitate book, the Learn From the Bible book also “brings the Bible accounts to life and captures the feelings of those depicted”, while, unlike the Imitate book, it “tells the story of the human family from creation onward”. While the Learn From the Bible book is especially suitable for children, the letter from the Governing Body in this book says that “it can also be used to help adults who desire to learn more about the Bible”. So, it would be good to consider on this blog some of the expressions used in the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book.

Goliath, By the Sound of It

This week’s MEotW, “Gēlìyà (Go·liʹath 歌利亚 歌利亞)”, is the Mandarin version of the name “Goliath”. It is used in Lesson 40 of the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book, which is entitled “Dàwèi (David 大卫 大衛) Yǒngzhàn (Yǒng·zhàn Bravely · Fights 勇战 勇戰) Gēlìyà (Go·liʹath 歌利亚 歌利亞)” (“David and Goliath”).

It is apparent that “Gēlìyà (Go·liʹath 歌利亚 歌利亞)” was chosen to represent “Goliath” in Mandarin because of what it sounds like, not because of the meanings of the supposedly ideographic (representing meaning directly through visible symbols, bypassing speech) Chinese characters used to write it out (“Song Profit Inferior”??? 🤷🏻).

A Cultural Goliath in the Chinese World

In this world ruled by Satan, Chinese characters loom large in people’s minds, like a cultural and traditional Goliath. To Jehovah God, though, the Creator and Sovereign of the entire universe, Goliath was small and insignificant back in David’s time, and Chinese characters are small and insignificant today. Indeed, even though Chinese characters have been around for millenia and are the oldest writing system still in use among humans, to Jehovah, to whom ‘a thousand years is as one day’, characters have only been around for a few days!—2 Peter 3:8.

Don’t Submit to Goliath—Trust in Jehovah!

It may seem like we have no choice but to submit to Chinese characters, these seemingly mighty symbols of worldly Chinese culture, and give them the egregious amounts of time, energy, and devotion they demand. However, for us dedicated ones, our time, energy, and devotion belong to Jehovah, so we should spend them carefully, in ways that are worthwhile with regard to our efforts to glorify Jehovah and accomplish the urgent, life-saving work he has assigned to us.

Chinese characters are a ball and chain made of human tradition.

Back in David’s time, it may have seemed to the Israelites facing Goliath that they had no option but to become slaves to the Philistines, because who could defeat the mighty Goliath? However, rather than being intimidated by this abnormally large but still limited and imperfect human, David put Jehovah first and really trusted in him, resulting in Jehovah blessing his efforts and helping him to soundly and decisively defeat Goliath. And yes, besides trusting in Jehovah, David did also contribute his own efforts—he both prepared to battle Goliath (for example, by carefully selecting “five smooth stones from the streambed”, stones that would come off his sling and fly through the air smoothly), and also actually stepped up and fought this battle.—1 Samuel 17:40.

汉字 / 漢字? Pīnyīn?

Today, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) can be one of our symbolic “smooth stones” that help us prepare for and successfully fight our personal battle to, with Jehovah’s help, defeat the cultural Goliath that is the characters, and learn to understand Mandarin and speak it understandably (and smoothly!) to the Mandarin-speaking people we meet in the field.

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Learn From the Bible book is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Learn From the Bible book 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 Learn From the Bible book will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.

Categories
Current Events Experiences History Language Learning Technology Theocratic

lìliang

lìliang (lì·liang power; strength; force · quantity 力量) 👈🏼 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.]

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. An outstanding feature of this book is its extensive use of the post-paper technology of video, which enables information to be presented much more vividly than could be done with paper. Also, at this time, one of the unique features of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material is Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus video transcripts. These can help us Mandarin field language learners to analyze and understand the Mandarin speech used in the many videos referenced in the Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book. This in turn can help us make more effective use of these videos while participating in Mandarin Bible discussions using this book.

This week’s MEotW, “lìliang (lì·liang power; strength; force · quantity 力量)”, occurs in subtitle 69 of the transcript for the video for lesson 16, point 6 of the Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book:

English:

Someone touched me,

for I know that power went out of me.

Mandarin:

68
00:03:30,620 → 00:03:32,038
📖 📄 📘 Yídìng (Yí·dìng {(with) one} · {setting fixedly} → [definitely] 一定) yǒurén (yǒu·rén {(there) was having → [(there) was]} · person (who) 有人) mō (touched 摸) wǒ (me 我)—

69
00:03:32,038 → 00:03:34,207
📖 📄 📘 wǒ (I 我) juéde (jué·de {to wake to → [to feel]} · got → [got to feel] 觉得 覺得) yǒu ({(there) was having} → [(there) was] 有) lìliang (lì·liang power · quantity 力量) cóng (from 从 從) wǒ (me 我) shēnshang (shēn·shang {body → [self]} · upon 身上) chūqu (chū·qu {having gone out} · {to go} 出去).

Here, “lìliang (lì·liang power; strength; force · quantity 力量)” is used as the Mandarin word for “power”. Speaking of God’s power and the vocabulary used to talk about it in Mandarin, “lìliang (lì·liang power; strength; force · quantity 力量)” appears in “shénshèng lìliang ((shén·shèng godly · holy 神圣 神聖) (lì·liang force · quantity 力量) → [holy spirit])”, the expression currently used in the publications of Jehovah’s organization to translate “holy spirit”. (Interestingly, comparing the English and Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus) versions of song 112 in the “Sing Out Joyfully” book, we see that there, “we ask you for your spirit” is translated as “kěnqiú (kěn·qiú (we) earnestly · request 恳求 懇求) nǐ (you 你) cìyǔ ({to give} 赐予/与 賜予/與) lìliang (lì·liang force · quantity → [(as per the English lyrics, this may be an abbr. for shénshèng lìliang (holy spirit))] 力量)”. I suppose it’s possible, though, that this apparent abbreviation of “shénshèng lìliang ((shén·shèng godly · holy 神圣 神聖) (lì·liang force · quantity 力量) → [holy spirit])” to “lìliang (lì·liang force · quantity → [(this may be an abbr. for shénshèng lìliang (holy spirit), e.g., in the lyrics for song 112)] 力量)” was just something done to fit the song’s rhythm.)

“Power Had Gone Out of Him”

The above-mentioned video—and the Bible account it was based on—simply refers to “power”, translated into Mandarin as “lìliang (lì·liang power; strength; force · quantity 力量)”. However, considering the miraculously beneficial results of this flow of “power”, much more must have been involved than what humans typically think of when they think of power.

Power flowing out of Jesus may make some imagine something happening like what happens when contact is made that completes a circuit with a battery, like when one tries to jump-start a car. When that’s done properly and the power flows, the result can be the safe and gratifying starting up of the previously unstartable car. I once had an experience, though, that didn’t go as expected, when I helped to jump-start an old Nissan that for some reason had the colours on its battery posts reversed from the usual practice, such that the post that I thought was the negative post was actually the positive post, and vice versa. The result in that case was a runaway flow of power that caused the jumper cable to rapidly heat up and catch fire! (Fortunately, I was able to grab a long wooden stick I had in the trunk of my car for chipping away at road ice, and use it to forcibly break the cable, which by then had been weakened by the extreme heat.)

So, power alone is not enough to ensure good results. Indeed, power alone can destroy rather than make things better. Besides my misadventure with that confusingly designed car battery, another obvious example is what happened when huge amounts of power were released by the explosions of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In the case of the sick woman who touched Jesus’ outer garments, Jesus only knew that “power had gone out of him”—he didn’t know this woman and didn’t understand her situation until she explained things to him after the fact. So, even without Jesus’ active participation and direction, the “power” that went out from him displayed

  • recognition of the woman’s faith and of the rightness of helping her, even if she was technically in violation of the Mosaic Law,
  • understanding of the nature of her sickness and of the technical process required to completely and immediately heal her of it,
  • and willingness to help her in this way.

Power, Beneficially Applied

It is evident from what happened in this situation that, as corroborated by the rest of God’s Word, God’s almighty power is always used along with his abundant justice, wisdom, and love—it never runs amok on its own, like a runaway electric current or an exploding bomb.

While humans in Satan’s world continue to fight wars and otherwise hungrily seek power for its own sake, it’s good to know of Jehovah God’s unmatched power, and of how he always uses it justly, wisely, and lovingly. In the Mandarin field, we have the privilege of helping people in what’s probably the largest language field ever to also come to an appreciation of the impressive and moving ways in which Jehovah God uses power.

Chart: Languages by First-Language Speakers—2019

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus 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) and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus 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 web resource as time allows.

Categories
Culture History Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

shēngjī‐bóbó

shēngjī (shēng·jī life · {mechanism → [being organic]} → [life] 生机 生機)‐bóbó (bó·bó flourishing; thriving; vigorous · flourishing; thriving; vigorous 勃勃) 👈🏼 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.]

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 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. Also, the Was Life Created? brochure and the Origin of Life brochure are now in the Teaching Toolbox section in the JW Library app. So, it would be good to consider some of the expressions used in the Mandarin versions of these publications that can be so helpful when discussing whether life was created.

“Living”

This week’s MEotW, which appears in the title of one of the sections of the Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure, is “shēngjī (shēng·jī life · {mechanism → [being organic]} → [life] 生机 生機)‐bóbó (bó·bó flourishing; thriving; vigorous · flourishing; thriving; vigorous 勃勃)”:

English:

The Living Planet

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

📖 📄 📘 Shēngjī (Shēng·jī Life · {Mechanism → [Being Organic]} → [Life] 生机 生機)‐Bóbó (Bó·bó Flourishing · Flourishing 勃勃) de (’s 的) Dìqiú (Dì·qiú Earth · Globe 地球)

As can be seen from the above quotes, the Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure uses “shēngjī (shēng·jī life · {mechanism → [being organic]} → [life] 生机 生機)‐bóbó (bó·bó flourishing; thriving; vigorous · flourishing; thriving; vigorous 勃勃)” to effectively mean “living”. Considering the morphemes in it, this expression could also be translated as “brimming with life”, or something similar.

Mechanisms, Organisms, and Crises

The “jī ({machine; mechanism [→ [airplane; aircraft | being organic]]} | {incipient moment; crucial point} | chance; opportunity; occasion | intention; idea 机 機/机)” in “shēngjī (shēng·jī life · {mechanism → [being organic]} → [life] 生机 生機)‐bóbó (bó·bó flourishing; thriving; vigorous · flourishing; thriving; vigorous 勃勃)” is a particularly polysemous morpheme, meaning that it has many possible related meanings. For example, it can literally mean “mechanism”, and it can effectively mean “organic”. This seems to indicate that worldly Chinese culture recognizes that living things contain what are effectively mechanisms. Indeed, scientists (and Jehovah’s organization) speak of the molecular machines inside living cells.

A computer-animated visualization of how tiny molecular machines inside our cells copy DNA

The “jī ({machine; mechanism [→ [airplane; aircraft | being organic]]} | {incipient moment; crucial point} | chance; opportunity; occasion | intention; idea 机 機/机)” in “shēngjī (shēng·jī life · {mechanism → [being organic]} → [life] 生机 生機)‐bóbó (bó·bó flourishing; thriving; vigorous · flourishing; thriving; vigorous 勃勃)” also appears in the Mandarin expression for “crisis”, “wēijī (wēi·jī {ridge of a roof → [dangerous | endangering]} · {incipient moment; crucial point | occasion} | {(for) ridge of a roof → [(for) danger]} · occasion; opportunity → [crisis] 危机 危機)”, which some have misconstrued as meaning that there is positive opportunity in danger. For more information about that, check out the MEotW post discussing that expression.

Reduplications and Idioms

The latter half of “shēngjī (shēng·jī life · {mechanism → [being organic]} → [life] 生机 生機)‐bóbó (bó·bó flourishing; thriving; vigorous · flourishing; thriving; vigorous 勃勃)” is an example of reduplication, which is quite common in Mandarin. Another expression which features reduplication is past MEotW “rénxīn (rén·xīn people’s · hearts → [popular/public feeling] 人心)‐huánghuáng (huáng·huáng {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} · {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} 惶惶)”, which has a similar structure to that of “shēngjī (shēng·jī life · {mechanism → [being organic]} → [life] 生机 生機)‐bóbó (bó·bó flourishing; thriving; vigorous · flourishing; thriving; vigorous 勃勃)”.

Speaking of structure, the MEotW post on “rénxīn (rén·xīn people’s · hearts → [popular/public feeling] 人心)‐huánghuáng (huáng·huáng {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} · {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} 惶惶)” said the following about whether expressions like “rénxīn (rén·xīn people’s · hearts → [popular/public feeling] 人心)‐huánghuáng (huáng·huáng {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} · {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} 惶惶)” and “shēngjī (shēng·jī life · {mechanism → [being organic]} → [life] 生机 生機)‐bóbó (bó·bó flourishing; thriving; vigorous · flourishing; thriving; vigorous 勃勃)” qualify as chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters)] 成语 成語):

Considering its structure, we can say that “rénxīn (rén·xīn people’s · hearts → [popular/public feeling] 人心)‐huánghuáng (huáng·huáng {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} · {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} 惶惶)” is an idiom. However, it does not seem to be a chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(sth. that) has become} · saying → [set phrase (typically of 4 characters); idiom] 成语 成語). This excerpt from the MEotW post on “chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(sth. that) has become} · saying → [set phrase (typically of 4 characters); idiom] 成语 成語)” discusses the difference:

So, it appears that while chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語) can be called idioms in English, not all Chinese idioms are chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語). It seems that “chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語)” specifically refers to Chinese idioms that originated in Classical Chinese, or Literary Chinese. This writing style has largely been replaced by written vernacular Chinese, which has been the standard style of writing for Modern Standard Mandarin for about a century now.

Since they originated in Classical Chinese, which hasn’t been current for about a century, chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語) often cannot be fully understood by modern speakers and readers of Mandarin, since knowledge about the source material for chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語) has naturally been fading with the passing of time.

Lots and Lots of Life

Whether or not “shēngjī (shēng·jī life · {mechanism → [being organic]} → [life] 生机 生機)‐bóbó (bó·bó flourishing; thriving; vigorous · flourishing; thriving; vigorous 勃勃)” is a chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(sth. that) has become} · saying → [set phrase (typically of 4 characters); idiom] 成语 成語), it’s certainly appropriate for describing an earth that is well-suited for, and that is filled with, a huge variety of exquisitely designed living things. It is fitting that the Was Life Created? brochure quotes Psalm 104:24 in this regard:

How many your works are, O Jehovah!
You have made all of them in wisdom.
The earth is full of what you have made.

For convenience:

The direct link for the current-generation Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Was Life Created? brochure is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Was Life Created? 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 Was Life Created? brochure will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.