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suíjī

suíjī (suí·jī {coming along with} · chance → [random[ly]; stochastic[ly]] 随机 隨機) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

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 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.

How It Started?

“In the beginning, some random, undirected events took place that somehow led to life as we know it on earth today.” That is basically the story that evolutionists tell about how life came to be. So, it’s good for us Mandarin field language learners to know that in its Introduction, the Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure uses this week’s MEotW, “suíjī (suí·jī {coming along with} · chance → [random[ly]; stochastic[ly]] 随机 隨機)”, where the English version of this brochure uses the word “random”.

How It Breaks Down

The “suí (follow; {[come/go] along with}; {vary according to} [→ [comply with; adapt to]] 随 隨)” in “suíjī (suí·jī {coming along with} · chance → [random[ly]; stochastic[ly]] 随机 隨機)” basically means “follow”, or “come/go along with”. Some of the other Mandarin expressions that it appears in include “gēnsuí (follow 跟随 跟隨)”, “suíbiàn (suí·biàn following; {[going] along with} · convenience → [[is] casual; random; informal | [is] as one pleases | [is] careless; negligent | [is] wanton; arbitrary] 随便 隨便)”, and “suíshí (suí·shí {coming/going along with} · {(particular) time} → [at any time; anytime; at all times] 随时 隨時)‐suídì (suí·dì {coming/going along with} · {ground → [place]} → [any place; anywhere; everywhere] 随地 隨地)”.

The “jī ({machine; mechanism [→ [airplane; aircraft | being organic]]} | {incipient moment; crucial point} | chance; opportunity; occasion | intention; idea 机 機/机)” in “suíjī (suí·jī {coming along with} · chance → [random[ly]; stochastic[ly]] 随机 隨機)” can mean “chance; opportunity; occasion”, and it is also the “jī ({machine; mechanism [→ [airplane; aircraft | being organic]]} | {incipient moment; crucial point} | chance; opportunity; occasion | intention; idea 机 機/机)” in “jīhuì (opportunity 机会 機會)” and in “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, as a past MEotW post emphasizes, does NOT mean that there is opportunity in danger).

How It Comes Together

When put together, the morphemes in “suíjī (suí·jī {coming along with} · chance → [random[ly]; stochastic[ly]] 随机 隨機)” literally mean “coming along with chance/opportunity”, and effectively mean “random” or “randomly”. Yes, while the Bible speaks of a loving Creator, evolution’s adherents, in holding that life is the result of suíjī (suí·jī {coming along with} · chance/opportunity → [random] 随机 隨機) events, thus portray evolution as a mere opportunist.

Those who bet on evolution may say that it’s not totally impossible that life came to exist suíjī (suí·jī {coming along with} · chance/opportunity → [randomly] 随机 隨機), by chance, but they may not realize—or they may have no faith—that their bet is not merely academic—they are ultimately unnecessarily betting their very lives. As John 17:3 says, coming to know God and Jesus leads to everlasting life, whereas those who continue to deny their Creator will eventually just die. So, let us continue to do our best to learn how to use the Mandarin language to help Mandarin-speaking ones to understand that they should bet their lives on Jehovah God, our Creator, not on the empty falsehoods of evolution.

How the Py+ Material Is Going

A while ago, I got the feeling that I should shift focus to get to work on producing current-generation Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material for the Was Life Created? brochure, which I had last produced older-style material for several years earlier. The official material for this brochure had also not been changed for several years, with the last Mandarin printing of it being dated 2016-12. However, not long after I had started working on new Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material for this brochure, I noticed that a new printing, dated 2022-12, had been put out for the English version of the Was Life Created? brochure, and then, a new printing, dated 2023-02, appeared in the JW Library app for the Mandarin version of this brochure. Also, the Was Life Created? brochure and the Origin of Life brochure were added to the Teaching Toolbox section in the JW Library app at around this time. It seems that Jehovah had decided that the time had come for renewed focus on these brochures, and it seems that the work of producing Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material for the Was Life Created? brochure is privileged to be part of this renewed focus.

At the time of this writing, the old 3-line files (iPad-Letter-A4, XLP-iPhone-A5) together with the new Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource cover the entire Was Life Created? brochure. (The 3-line files were based on an older version of the brochure, though.) Also, the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource (which can be used offline in supporting browsers) contains no more Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)-only material that has only been partially proofread—all the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)-only material has now been fully proofread.

Additionally, there is now a similar Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource for the Origin of Life brochure as well.

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.

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Culture Current Events Language Learning

xiǎnyǎn bāo

xiǎnyǎn bāo ((xiǎn·yǎn {appears; shows; displays; manifests; {[is] obvious; evident; clear; apparent; noticeable} (to)} · eye → [conspicuous; showy; eye-catching; glamorous] 显眼 顯/顕眼) (bāo wrapping → [bun (food)] 包) → [attention-seeker; goofball; one who stands out from the crowd to get attention]) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

With 2023 having just recently receded into history, it’s a good time to check out collections of some of the top Mandarin slang expressions used during 2023. A couple of articles that I found that discuss some of these expressions are:

The only expression that appears on both of these lists is “xiǎnyǎn bāo ((xiǎn·yǎn {appears; shows; displays; manifests; {[is] obvious; evident; clear; apparent; noticeable} (to)} · eye → [conspicuous; showy; eye-catching; glamorous] 显眼 顯/顕眼) (bāo wrapping → [bun (food)] 包) → [attention-seeker; goofball; one who stands out from the crowd to get attention])”, this week’s MEotW.

Its Constituent Morphemes

The first morpheme in this expression is “xiǎn (appear; show; display; manifest; {[is] obvious; evident; clear; apparent; noticeable [→ [[is] illustrious; powerful; influential]} 显 顯/顕)”, which here means “appears; shows; displays; manifests; [is] obvious/evident/clear/apparent/noticeable (to)”. Some other expressions that include this morpheme are:

  • míngxiǎn (míng·xiǎn {[is] clear; distinct} · {[is] obvious; evident; clear; apparent; noticeable} → [[is] clear; obvious; evident; distinct; manifest] 明显 明顯)
  • xiǎnrán (xiǎn·rán {[is] evident; obvious; clear}·ly 显然 顯然)
  • xiǎnshì (xiǎn·shì {to be evident/obvious} · show 显示 顯示)

When “xiǎn (appear; show; display; manifest; {[is] obvious; evident; clear; apparent; noticeable [→ [[is] illustrious; powerful; influential]} 显 顯/顕)” is put together with “yǎn (eye 眼)”, which means “eye”, the resulting expression “xiǎnyǎn (xiǎn·yǎn {appears; shows; displays; manifests; {[is] obvious; evident; clear; apparent; noticeable} (to)} · eye → [conspicuous; showy; eye-catching; glamorous] 显眼 顯/顕眼)” effectively means “conspicuous; showy; eye-catching; glamorous”.

The last morpheme of this expression, “bāo (wrapping [→ [including; containing | assuring; guaranteeing | bundle; package; pack; packet; parcel | bag; sack | bun (food)]] 包)”, literally means “to wrap”, but one of its effective meanings is “bun”, that is, a bun that’s food, as opposed to, say, a hair bun. Some other expressions that include this morpheme are:

  • bāokuò (bāo·kuò wrap · {draw together} → [include; consist of; comprise; incorporate] 包括)
  • miànbāo (miàn·bāo {[wheat] flour} · {wrapping [→ [bun]]} → [bread] 面包 麵包)
  • bāozi (bāo·zi {wrapping → [bun]} · [suf for nouns] → [steamed stuffed bun] 包子)

It’s evident that “bāo (wrapping [→ [including; containing | assuring; guaranteeing | bundle; package; pack; packet; parcel | bag; sack | bun (food)]] 包)”, with its meaning of “bun”, is used as a term of endearment in “xiǎnyǎn bāo ((xiǎn·yǎn {appears; shows; displays; manifests; {[is] obvious; evident; clear; apparent; noticeable} (to)} · eye → [conspicuous; showy; eye-catching; glamorous] 显眼 顯/顕眼) (bāo wrapping → [bun (food)] 包) → [attention-seeker; goofball; one who stands out from the crowd to get attention])”.

As a Whole

What are the constituent morphemes of “xiǎnyǎn bāo ((xiǎn·yǎn {appears; shows; displays; manifests; {[is] obvious; evident; clear; apparent; noticeable} (to)} · eye → [conspicuous; showy; eye-catching; glamorous] 显眼 顯/顕眼) (bāo wrapping → [bun (food)] 包) → [attention-seeker; goofball; one who stands out from the crowd to get attention])” being used to mean when they’re put together in this expression? The article in The World of Chinese that’s mentioned above says:

One type of dazi [shallow friend] many prefer these days is the 显眼包 (xiǎnyǎnbāo), or goofball. The term refers to people who stand out from the crowd and constantly seek attention. Although once considered a neutral term, it has gained a positive connotation recently, as many appreciate their vibrant energy in an often ultra-competitive society.

As for the article in Sixth Tone that’s mentioned above, it says this regarding this expression as a whole:

显眼包

Class Clown

Literally meaning “eye-catching,” 显眼包 (xiǎn yǎn bāo) and its variations appear in a number of Chinese dialects. The term became widespread online after Guo Beibei — a phenomenally popular internet celebrity who later lost her account for violating short video platform Kuaishou’s rules on “vulgar” content — began using it to describe herself. Now, it’s become a byword for attention-seekers, goofballs, and anyone who is willing to get weird for a like.

[Regarding the person mentioned in the above quote, I found an article about her on the website of The China Project. The article says that she has many fans who are homosexuals, although it does not mention whether she herself is homosexual. For what it’s worth, I remember that a sister who grew up in San Francisco (which famously has a significant homosexual population) once commented that she has observed that many homosexuals are quite self-centred. Perhaps that contributes to such ones liking standing out and getting attention.]

Good and Bad Ways to Stand Out

The world—which we know is ruled behind the scenes by Satan the Devil—has its celebrity culture, and it has an attention economy. (1 John 5:19) In contrast, in 1 Thessalonians 4:11, the apostle Paul gave Christians this advice:

Make it your aim to live quietly and to mind your own business

So, generally, Christians should not seek to stand out or get attention for themselves. Sometimes, though, true Christians naturally stand out because of being no part of Satan’s world, e.g., when avoiding celebrating holidays with pagan roots, or when refusing to participate in politics or war. More positively, in a world permeated by Satan’s spirit, Christians may also naturally stand out because of reflecting God’s spirit, applying God’s principles, and sticking to God’s standards. As Jesus, said, his true disciples should ‘let their light shine’.—Matthew 5:16.

Standing out because of not following human conventions and traditions is not necessarily a bad thing. Indeed, it’s sometimes necessary, and exactly the right thing to do, with Jesus himself setting the perfect example by his not following the traditions of the scribes and Pharisees of his day, which went beyond God’s requirements. However, actually going beyond God’s standards and requirements, as Satan, the demons, Adam and Eve, the Pharisees, and others who show a similar spirit have done, is indeed bad. So, it’s vitally important for us to cultivate the wisdom to be able to tell the difference.

Standing Out in the Mandarin Field

Comparing the two articles linked to above, I noticed that the The World of Chinese article renders Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) in a much better way than the Sixth Tone article does—the The World of Chinese article properly treats Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) as a separate, alternate full writing system with spaces between whole words rather than between every syllable, while the Sixth Tone article just treats Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) like a mere pronunciation aid for the characters. Still, in a Language Log blog post of his own, Prof. Victor H. Mair made the following interesting comment regarding the expressions presented in the Sixth Tone article:

Three of the ten items either feature roman letters or consist entirely of English. Remember what Mark Hansell said years ago about roman letters becoming a part of the Chinese writing system:

Mark Hansell, “The Sino-Alphabet: The Assimilation of Roman Letters into the Chinese Writing System,” Sino-Platonic Papers, 45 (May, 1994), 1-28 (pdf)

Roman letters certainly stand out among Chinese characters.

As for characters themselves, one of the possible meanings of “xiǎnyǎn (xiǎn·yǎn {appears; shows; displays; manifests; {[is] obvious; evident; clear; apparent; noticeable} (to)} · eye → [conspicuous; showy; eye-catching; glamorous] 显眼 顯/顕眼)” is “glamorous”, and Chinese characters are considered glamorous by some. With their eye-catching visual designs, they are by nature—and probably by design—xiǎnyǎn (xiǎn·yǎn {noticeable (to)} · eye → [glamorous] 显眼 顯/顕眼), as are idols and images used in idolatrous worship.

In the Mandarin field, is it going too far to use Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) at times instead of always using characters? Is that being too xiǎnyǎn (xiǎn·yǎn {noticeable (to)} · eye → [conspicuous] 显眼 顯/顕眼) in a world where so many people use and promote characters? Should we just go along to get along? Well, as has been discussed on this blog and elsewhere, Chinese characters are from humans, not from God, and thus the traditions surrounding characters are no more binding on God’s true servants today than the traditions of the Pharisees were on Jesus, and I hope none of us would have told Jesus to “go along to get along”! (As I recall, the apostle Peter tried to tell Jesus something similar once, and Jesus, um, didn’t respond positively.) So, it is fine to take advantage of the practical benefits of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) when you can to help you serve God more effectively, and to just use characters when you have to.

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Culture Current Events History Language Learning Theocratic

rénxīn‐huánghuáng

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) ← 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.]

As 2023 draws to a close, jw.org is featuring the article “2023: A Year of Anxiety—⁠What Does the Bible Say?”. This week’s 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)”, is used in the title of the Mandarin version of this article:

English:

2023: A Year of Anxiety—⁠What Does the Bible Say?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 2023 Rénxīn (Rén·xīn People’s · Hearts → [Popular/Public Feeling] 人心)‐Huánghuáng (Huáng·huáng {Being Fearful → [Being Anxious]} · {Being Fearful → [Being Anxious]} 惶惶) de (’ 的) Yì (One 一) Nián (Year 年 年/秊): Shìjiè (Shì·jiè {Generation → [World]} · Extent’s → [World’s] 世界) Dàshì (Dà·shì {Big → [Major]} · Events 大事) Zěnyàng (Zěn·yàng (in) What · {Forms → [Ways]} → [How] 怎样 怎樣) Yìngyàn (Yìng·yàn {Respond to} · Verifying (Regarding) → [Fulfil] 应验 應驗) Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng Holy · Scriptures → [Bible] 圣经 聖經) Yùyán (Yù·yán {In Advance} · Sayings → [Prophecies] 预言 預言)

Breakdown

“Rén (people | person[s] | human[s] | man/men 人)” can mean “people”, and “xīn (heart 心)” means “heart”. Together, they can literally mean “people’s hearts”, and in the context of “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),” they effectively mean “popular/public feeling”.

“Huáng ({[is] afraid; fearful; scared; frightened} [→ [[is] anxious; uneasy; nervous]] 惶)” seems to basically literally mean “[is] afraid; fearful; scared; frightened”. In some cases, it can effectively mean “[is] anxious; uneasy; nervous”. (In these definitions, the presence of “[is]” means that this expression can sometimes function as a stative verb, i.e., a verb that describes a state of being, rather than an action. Some more information on stative verbs, quoted from the ABC Chinese-English Dictionary, can be found in the MEotW post on “gāowēn (gāo·wēn high · {being warm → [temperature]} 高温 高溫)”.)

Taken together, the morphemes in “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)”, as used in the above example, effectively mean “popular/public feeling being anxious”.

One More Time

In “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)”, “huáng ({[is] afraid; fearful; scared; frightened} [→ [[is] anxious; uneasy; nervous]] 惶)” is doubled, or repeated. In linguistics, this phenomenon is called reduplication, and it’s quite common in Mandarin. Sometimes, the tone of the duplicated morpheme is kept the same, while other times, the second occurrence’s tone becomes neutral. Off the top of my head, here are some other examples of reduplication in Mandarin:

  • xiǎngxiang (xiǎng·xiang {think about} · {think about} | think · think 想想)
  • chángcháng (cháng·cháng frequently · frequently | often · often | constantly · constantly 常常)
  • mànmàn (màn·màn slowly · slowly [→ [gradually]] 慢慢)
  • kànkan (kàn·kan {look at} · {look at} | look · look | see · see | watch · watch 看看)

Sometimes, one might even come across a Mandarin double double, such as “mǎma‐hūhū ((mǎ·ma horse · horse 马马 馬馬) (hū·hū tiger · tiger 虎虎) → [careless; casual | fair; so-so; just passable])”. (Hopefully, this term does not apply to our approach to learning Mandarin, especially if we are doing so for Jehovah’s work in the Mandarin field!)

Idiomatic

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.