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Dì‐Èr Cì Shìjiè Dàzhàn

Dì‐Èr Cì Shìjiè Dàzhàn+ ({(Dì [pref to form ordinal numerals] 第)‐(Èr Two 二) → [Second]} (Cì Time 次) (Shì·jiè {Generation → [World]} · Extent → [World] 世界) (Dà·zhàn {Big → [Great]} · War 大战 大戰) → [World War II]) 👈🏼 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 + Symbols 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. This week’s MEotW, “Dì‐Èr Cì Shìjiè Dàzhàn ({(Dì [pref to form ordinal numerals] 第)‐(Èr Two 二) → [Second]} (Cì Time 次) (Shì·jiè {Generation → [World]} · Extent → [World] 世界) (Dà·zhàn {Big → [Great]} · War 大战 大戰) → [World War II])”, appears in lesson 13, point 5 of this book:

English:

What position did many churches take during World War II?

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

📖 📄 ➕ Dì‐Èr Cì Shìjiè Dàzhàn+ ({(Dì [pref to form ordinal numerals] 第)‐(Èr Two 二) → [Second]} (Cì Time 次) (Shì·jiè {Generation → [World]} · Extent → [World] 世界) (Dà·zhàn {Big → [Great]} · War 大战 大戰) → [World War II]) shí ({(particular) time} 时 時), xǔduō (xǔ·duō numbers · many 许多 許多) jiàohuì (jiào·huì teaching · associations → [churches] 教会 教會) zuòle (zuò·le did · {to completion} 做了) shénme (shén·me what · [suf] 什么 什/甚麼) shì (things 事)?

“Èrzhàn (Èr·zhàn Two · War → [World War II (abbr. of Dì‐Èr Cì Shìjiè Dàzhàn)] 二战 二戰)” is a widely used abbreviated form of this week’s MEotW. For example, it is used in the Watchtower article that, as of this writing, is featured on jw.org as part of a special campaign:

English:

“The world is facing the highest number of violent conflicts since the Second World War and 2 billion people—a quarter of humanity—live in places affected by such conflict.”

United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, January 26, 2023.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 ➕ Mùqián (Mù·qián eyes · before → [at present] 目前) wǔzhuāng (wǔ·zhuāng military · {dressing up → [attire]} → [military] 武装 武裝) chōngtū+ (chōng·tū {dashings → [clashings]} · {chimneys → [chargings]} → [conflicts] 冲突 衝突) de (’ 的) cìshù (cì·shù occurrences · number → [number of occurrences] 次数 次數) shì (is 是) Èrzhàn (Èr·zhàn Two · War → [World War II (abbr. of Dì‐Èr Cì Shìjiè Dàzhàn)] 二战 二戰) yǐlái (yǐ·lái {from that point} · coming → [since then] 以来 以來) zuìduō (zuì·duō most · numerous → [the most] 最多) de ({’s (number)} 的), quánqiú (quán·qiú entire · globe → [worldwide] 全球) yǒu ({(there) is having} → [(there) is] 有) sì (four 四) fēn (dividings → [parts] 分) zhī (’ → [among them] 之) yī (one 一) de (’s 的) rénkǒu (rén·kǒu people · {mouths of} → [population] 人口), yě (also 也) jiùshì (jiù·shì exactly · is 就是) dàyuē (dà·yuē largely · approximately 大约 大約) 20 yì ({hundred million} 亿 億) rén (people 人), shòudàole (shòu·dào·le {subjected to} · {arriving at} · {to completion} 受到了) yǐngxiǎng+ (yǐng·xiǎng relfection · sound → [being affected] 影响 影響).

—Liánhé Guó ((Lián·hé United · {Closed → [Joined]} 联合 聯合) (Guó Nations 国 國) → [United Nations]) Chángwù (Cháng·wù Common · Affairs → [General Duty] 常务 常務) Fù (Deputy 副) Mìshū‐Zhǎng+ ((Mì·shū Secret · Documents (Person) → [Secretary] 秘书 秘書)‐(Zhǎng {Grown (One) → [Chief]} 长 長) → [Secretary-General]) Āmíngnà (Amina 阿明娜) Mùhǎnmòdé (Mohammed 穆罕默德), 2023 Nián (Year 年 年/秊) 1 Yuè (Moon → [Month] 月) 26 Rì (Sun → [Day] 日)

Ordinal Numerals/Numbers

The “Dì ([pref to form ordinal numerals] 第)” in “Dì‐Èr Cì Shìjiè Dàzhàn ({(Dì [pref to form ordinal numerals] 第)‐(Èr Two 二) → [Second]} (Cì Time 次) (Shì·jiè {Generation → [World]} · Extent → [World] 世界) (Dà·zhàn {Big → [Great]} · War 大战 大戰) → [World War II])” has an old meaning referring to the different grades in which successful candidates in the imperial examinations were placed. Nowadays, “dì ([pref to form ordinal numerals] 第)” is used in Mandarin as a prefix to form ordinal numerals. In the example contained in this week’s MEotW, “Dì‐Èr ((Dì [pref to form ordinal numerals] 第)‐(Èr Two 二) → [Second])” corresponds to “Second”. In contrast, “èr (two 二)” and its English equivalent “two” are cardinal numerals.

(By the way, I learned while researching this post that there seems to be a distinction between “numeral” and “number”. It seems that Wiktionary sums up the situation well by defining “ordinal numeral” as “a word used to represent an ordinal number”, and by defining “cardinal numeral” as “a word used to represent a cardinal number”. But then again, according to Wiktionary, when it comes to grammar (as opposed to mathematics), an “ordinal number” can be defined as “a word that expresses the relative position of an item in a sequence” (which is the definition of an ordinal numeral), and “cardinal number” can be defined as “a word that expresses a countable quantity; a cardinal numeral”.)

The Hyphenation of Ordinal Numerals

The recommended standard GB/T 16159-2012 of the People’s Republic of China recommends that an ordinal numeral be written with a hyphen between “dì ([pref to form ordinal numerals] 第)” and the associated cardinal numeral. As can be seen from the example of “Dì‐Èr ((Dì [pref to form ordinal numerals] 第)‐(Èr Two 二) → [Second])” in this week’s MEotW, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material follows this official recommendation, since the hyphen helps to indicate that the multi-morpheme expression that it’s in, e.g., “Dì‐Èr ((Dì [pref to form ordinal numerals] 第)‐(Èr Two 二) → [Second])”, represents a single concept, like the single word “Second” indicates in English.

Historical Lessons

Worldly historians and others who study physical warfare consider World War II to be a highly significant chapter in the history of warfare, from which many important lessons can be learned. Lesson 13 of the Enjoy Life Forever! book shows that those of us who are concerned with spiritual warfare can also learn important lessons from World War II. This is especially so when we contrast what false religions did with how true Christians defended Bible truth and spiritually fought to stay politically neutral and faithful to the true God during that time. With the ongoing war in Ukraine being the largest scale armed conflict in Europe since World War II, and with all the other wars and violent conflicts that have been breaking out around the world and that may yet break out, it is becoming more and more important to remember and apply the lessons of World War II.

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 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
Culture Current Events Names Nations Technology Theocratic

Zhōngdōng

Zhōngdōng+ (Zhōng·dōng Middle · East 中东 中東) 👈🏼 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 + Symbols 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 “War in the Middle East—What Does the Bible Say?”. Where the English version of this article uses the expression “Middle East”, the Mandarin version uses this week’s MEotW, “Zhōngdōng (Zhōng·dōng Middle · East 中东 中東)”. For example, here are the English and Mandarin versions of the article’s title:

English:

War in the Middle East—What Does the Bible Say?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 ➕ Guānyú (Guān·yú {Closing → [Relating]} · to 关于 關於) Zhōngdōng (Zhōng·dōng Middle · East’s 中东 中東) Fāshēng (Fā·shēng {Issuing Forth} · {Coming to Life} → [Happening] 发生 發生) de (’s 的) Zhànzhēng (Zhàn·zhēng War · Contending → [War] 战争 戰爭), Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) de (’s 的) Guāndiǎn+ (Guān·diǎn {Looking at → [View]} · Point → [Viewpoint] 观点 觀點) Shì (Is 是) Shénme (Shén·me What · [suf] 什么 什/甚麼)?

Related Expressions

The “Zhōng ({within/among/[in] the midst of (it/them…)} | centre; middle | midst | amid | medium; intermediate 中)” in “Zhōngdōng (Zhōng·dōng Middle · East 中东 中東)” corresponds to “Middle”, and it also occurs in expressions such as past MEotW’s “Zhōngguó (Zhōng·guó Central · Nation → [China | Chinese] 中国 中國)” 🔗, “Zhōngwén (Zhōng·wén {Central → [Chinese]} · Writing 中文)” 🔗, and “Zhōngyāng Zhǎnglǎo‐Tuán+ ((Zhōngyāng Central 中央) (Zhǎng·lǎo {Grown → [Elder]} · Old (Men) → [Elders] 长老 長老)‐(Tuán {Rolled into a Ball (Thing)} → [Group] → [Body] 团 團/糰) → [Governing Body])” 🔗. (Note that in these past MEotW’s, “Zhōng ({within/among/[in] the midst of (it/them…)} | centre; middle | midst | amid | medium; intermediate 中)” is really used to mean “Central”, which is a bit different from “Middle”.)

The “dōng (east 东 東)” in “Zhōngdōng (Zhōng·dōng Middle · East 中东 中東)” corresponds to “East”. For reference, here are the Mandarin expressions for the cardinal directions and the ordinal or intercardinal directions:

  • běi+ (north | northern 北)
  • dōngběi+ (dōng·běi {east | eastern} · {north | northern} → [north-east | north-eastern] 东北 東北)
  • dōng+ (east | eastern 东 東)
  • dōngnán+ (dōng·nán {east | eastern} · {south | southern} → [south-east | south-eastern] 东南 東南)
  • nán+ (south | southern 南)
  • xīnán+ (xī·nán {west | western} · {south | southern} → [south-west | south-western] 西南)
  • xī+ (west | western 西)
  • xīběi+ (xī·běi {west | western} · {north | northern} → [north-west | north-western] 西北)

Note how the Mandarin expressions for the ordinal or intercardinal directions use reverse word order compared to their English counterparts. For example, “xīběi (xī·běi {west | western} · {north | northern} → [north-west | north-western] 西北)” literally means “west · north”, in contrast to the English word “north-west”. This may remind one of how the Mandarin word for “compass”, past MEotW “zhǐnán‐zhēn ((zhǐ·nán {(points with) finger → [points]} · south 指南)‐(zhēn needle 针 針) → [compass])”, on a certain level of literalness means “points south needle”, in contrast to the Western view that a compass needle points north. Both are right—when one end of a symmetrical compass needle is pointing south, the other end is simultaneously pointing north—they’re just different ways of thinking about the same thing.

A Longer Usage Example

To provide a longer, more extensive example of how “Zhōngdōng (Zhōng·dōng Middle · East 中东 中東)” and some related expressions can be used in the ministry, here is some Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material based on the introductory paragraphs of the above-mentioned article:

English:

The world is anxiously watching the conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran. Will the situation escalate into a wider war? Can governments avert disaster and achieve lasting peace?

Those familiar with Bible prophecy may wonder whether this Middle East conflict could be the start of the battle of Armageddon mentioned in the book of Revelation.

What does the Bible say?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 ➕ Měiguó (Měi·guó American · Nation → [USA] 美国 美國), Yǐsèliè (Israel 以色列), hé ({(together) with} → [and] 和 和/龢) Yīlǎng+ (Iran 伊朗) zhījiān (zhī·jiān them · among 之间 之間) de (’s 的) chōngtū+ (chōng·tū {dashing → [clashing]} · {chimney → [dashing forward]} → [conflict] 冲突 衝突), nòngde (nòng·de {has played with → [has made]} · getting 弄得) shìjiè (shì·jiè {generation → [world]} · extent’s → [world’s] 世界) gèdì (gè·dì various · lands 各地) rénxīn (rén·xīn people’s · hearts → [public feeling] 人心)‐huánghuáng (huáng·huáng {to be fearful → [to be anxious]} · {to be fearful → [to be anxious]} 惶惶). Zhèige (Zhèi·ge this · [mw] 这个 這個) chōngtū (chōng·tū {dashing → [clashing]} · {chimney → [dashing forward]} → [conflict] 冲突 衝突) huì (will 会 會) yǎnbiàn (yǎn·biàn perform · changing → [develop] 演变 演變) chéng ({to become} 成) dà (large 大)‐guīmó+ (guī·mó {compasses → [rules]} · model → [scale] 规模 規模) de (’s 的) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war] 战争 戰爭) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)? Zhèngfǔ (Zhèng·fǔ political · {seats of government} → [governments] 政府) yǒu ({do have} 有) nénglì (néng·lì ability · power 能力) píngxī+ (píng·xī {to make to be flat, level, even → [to make to be calm]} · {to stop} → [to calm/quiet down] 平息) chōngtū (chōng·tū {dashing → [clashing]} · {chimney → [dashing forward]} → [conflict] 冲突 衝突), dàilái (dài·lái {to bring} · {to come} 带来 帶來) chángjiǔ (cháng·jiǔ long · {for a long time} 长久 長久) de (’s 的) hépíng (hé·píng {being (together) with (one another)} · {being flat, level, even} → [peace (nwtsty-CHS Appx. A2 says this term mainly refers to the absence of war or conflict)] 和平) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)?

📖 📄 ➕ Yǒuxiē (Yǒu·xiē {(there) are having → [(there) are]} · some 有些) dúguo (dú·guo reading · {have passed} → [have read] 读过 讀過) Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng Holy · Scriptures → [Bible] 圣经 聖經) yùyán+ (yù·yán {in advance} · sayings → [prophecy] 预言 預言) de (’s 的) rén (people (who) 人) kěnéng (kě·néng maybe · {being able} → [maybe] 可能) huì (will 会 會) dānxīn (dān·xīn {carry on a shoulder pole → [take on (a heavy)]} · heart → [worry] 担/耽心 擔/耽心), zài (in 在) Zhōngdōng (Zhōng·dōng Middle · East 中东 中東) fāshēng (fā·shēng {issuing forth} · {coming to life} → [happening] 发生 發生) de (’s 的) chōngtū (chōng·tū {dashing → [clashing]} · {chimney → [dashing forward]} → [conflict] 冲突 衝突) huì (will 会 會) yǐnfā (yǐn·fā {draw (out)} · {to send out} → [lead to] 引发 引發) Hāmǐjíduōdùn (Armageddon 哈米吉多顿 哈米吉多頓) dàzhàn (dà·zhàn {big → [great]} · war 大战 大戰), cóng’ér (cóng’·ér {from (that)} · thus 从而 從而) dàilái (dài·lái bring · {to come} 带来 帶來) shìjiè (shì·jiè {generation → [world]} · extent’s → [world’s] 世界) mòrì+ (mò·rì end · {sun → [day]} → [doomsday] 末日).

📖 📄 ➕ Nàme (Nà·me {(in) that (case)} · [suf] 那么/末 那麼/末), Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) de (’s 的) guāndiǎn+ (guān·diǎn {looking at → [view]} · point → [viewpoint] 观点 觀點) shì (is 是) shénme (shén·me what · [suf] 什么 什/甚麼) ne ([? ptcl] 呢)?