Category: Theocratic

Categories
Experiences Technology Theocratic

chǎojià

chǎojià (chǎo·jià {make noise (of) → [quarrel; squabble]} · {frame → [fight; quarrel]} → [quarrel; have a row/spat] 吵架) ← 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, “chǎojià (chǎo·jià {make noise (of) → [quarrel; squabble]} · {frame → [fight; quarrel]} → [quarrel; have a row/spat] 吵架)”, occurs in subtitle 5 of the transcript for the video for lesson 12, point 5 of the Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book:

English:

Because as far back as I remember, they have always argued with each other.

Mandarin:

5
00:00:16,996 → 00:00:20,875
📖 📄 📘 Wǒ (I 我) jìde (jì·de {to remember} · get → [(get to) remember] 记得 記得) xiǎo ({(when I) was little} → [(when I) was young] 小) shíhou (shí·hou {(particular) time} · season 时候 時候), fùmǔ (fù·mǔ father · mother 父母) chángcháng (cháng·cháng constantly · constantly 常常) chǎojià (chǎo·jià {were making noise (of) → [were quarrelling]} · {frames → [quarrels]} → [were quarrelling] 吵架).

Construction

In “chǎojià (chǎo·jià {make noise (of) → [quarrel; squabble]} · {frame → [fight; quarrel]} → [quarrel; have a row/spat] 吵架)”, “chǎo ({make [a] noise} [→ [quarrel; squabble]] | {[is] noisy} 吵)”, which literally means “make [a] noise”, is used to effectively mean “quarrel” or “squabble”. Another Mandarin expression in which “chǎo ({make [a] noise} [→ [quarrel; squabble]] | {[is] noisy} 吵)” is used is “chǎonào ({(disturbing by) making [a] noise} [→ [noisy; raucous | noisily disputing | harassing; disturbing | shouting; screaming | din; hubbub]] 吵闹 吵鬧)”, which means “(disturbing by) making [a] noise”.

The “jià (frame; rack; shelf; stand [→ [fight; quarrel]] | {put up}; erect | support; {prop [up]} 架)” in this week’s MEotW can literally mean “frame” or “rack”, as it does in “shízì‐jià ((shí·zì ten · character → [cross-shaped] 十字)‐(jià frame 架) → [cross])”. In the context of “chǎojià (chǎo·jià {make noise (of) → [quarrel; squabble]} · {frame → [fight; quarrel]} → [quarrel; have a row/spat] 吵架)”, “jià (frame; rack; shelf; stand [→ [fight; quarrel]] | {put up}; erect | support; {prop [up]} 架)” effectively means “fight” or “quarrel”—when two people are squared off against each other and quarrelling, they do indeed assume a kind of framing, a kind of geometry, as shown by the English expression “squared off”.

When put together, the morphemes of “chǎojià (chǎo·jià {make noise (of) → [quarrel; squabble]} · {frame → [fight; quarrel]} → [quarrel; have a row/spat] 吵架)” on a certain level of literalness mean “fight a fight” or “quarrel a quarrel”, so this expression is of verb-object construction. The ABC Chinese-English Dictionary, edited by John DeFrancis and Victor H. Mair, among others, says the following about verb-object construction in Mandarin:

V.O. (Verb-Object Construction, Dòng-Bīn Jiégòu 动宾结构).

Many English verbs get translated into natural Chinese as a verb plus an object noun, e.g. chīfàn for ‘eat’, shuōhuà for ‘speak’, etc. It is important for two reasons to know what is merely a verb in Chinese and what is actually a verb-object construction.

First, verb-object constructions can never take a second object, i.e. chīfàn can never be followed directly by something else to be eaten.

Second, a verb and its object can be separated from one another, thus allowing

(i) aspect particles to be placed directly after the verb, e.g. chīle fàn ‘after finishing eating’;
(ii) modification of the object, e.g. chī Zhōngguófàn ‘eat Chinese food’; and
(iii) quantification of the noun, e.g. chīle sān wǎn fàn ‘ate three bowls of rice’. See also Stative Verb (S.V.).

Arguing vs. Bearing Witness

Jesus is “the Prince of Peace”, but on occasion he “squared off” against opposers like the tradition-loving, self-centred Pharisees. (Isaiah 9:6) Note, though, that while “chǎojià (chǎo·jià {make noise (of) → [quarrel; squabble]} · {frame → [fight; quarrel]} → [quarrel; have a row/spat] 吵架)” is used in the Enjoy Life Forever! book in relation to parents arguing, it seems that it would not really be appropriate to use “chǎojià (chǎo·jià {make noise (of) → [quarrel; squabble]} · {frame → [fight; quarrel]} → [quarrel; have a row/spat] 吵架)” to describe the times when Jesus and the Pharisees, etc. exchanged words. Typically, the English New World Translation Bible just says matter-of-factly that they “said” things to each other, with “said” being translated in the Mandarin version as good old “shuō (say; said; speak; {speak of}; talk | scold 说 說/説)”.—Matthew 15:1–3 (English, Mandarin); Luke 6:9 (English, Mandarin).

Was Jesus wrong to speak up when confronted with such ones? No—Jesus was obligated to “bear witness to the truth”, because ultimately, there is no real peace without the truth. (John 18:37; Ezekiel 13:10) Even if most of the Pharisees and ones like them would not listen to and benefit from what Jesus said, “everyone who is on the side of the truth listens” to voices speaking the truth, including any others present to hear words of truth being spoken or later able to read words of truth recorded in writing. So, sometimes we also may need to speak up or write things down to defend the truth against the attacks and distortions of those who put traditions or their own personal preferences ahead of the truth, although of course, as followers of Christ, we should do so with Christian kindness and tact.—Colossians 4:6.

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 Language Learning Theocratic

jiàoyù

jiàoyù (jiào·yù teaching · educating [→ [education]] 教育) ← 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 “Can Education and Money Guarantee a Secure Future?”. Of interest to those of us in the Mandarin field, this article mentions the comments and experiences of several Asians. Where the English version of this article uses the word “education”, the Mandarin version uses this week’s MEotW, “jiàoyù (jiào·yù teaching · educating [→ [education]] 教育)”. (Since this article is from a relatively recent issue of The Watchtower, it provides the option to show Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音).)

Related Expressions

The “jiào (teach | {teaching [→ [religion]]} | cause/ask 教)” in “jiàoyù (jiào·yù teaching · educating [→ [education]] 教育)” is a verb meaning “teach”. It also appears in past MEotW “jiàodǎo (jiào·dǎo teaching · {guiding [→ [instructing]]} 教导 教導)”, which means “teach” or “instruct”, and in “jiàoxun (teaching → [reprimanding | knowledge gained from an error; lesson; moral] 教训 教訓)”, which means “reprimanding” or “lesson”. (“Jiàoxun (teaching → [reprimanding | knowledge gained from an error; lesson; moral] 教训 教訓)” is also discussed in the MEotW post on “jiàodǎo (jiào·dǎo teaching · {guiding [→ [instructing]]} 教导 教導)”.) This “jiào (teach | {teaching [→ [religion]]} | cause/ask 教)” can also effectively mean “religion”, as it does in “Jīdū Jiào ((Jīdū Christ 基督) (Jiào Teaching → [Religion] 教) → [Christianity | Christian])” and in “Tiānzhǔ Jiào ((Tiān·zhǔ Heavenly · Lord → [Catholic] 天主) (Jiào Teaching → [Religion] 教) → [Catholicism])”.

The “yù ({give birth to} | rear; raise; {bring up}; cultivate | educating [→ [education]] 育)” in “jiàoyù (jiào·yù teaching · educating [→ [education]] 教育)” is a verb meaning “educate”. In other contexts, such as in the expressions “shēngyù ({giving [of] birth} [→ [fertility]] 生育)” and “yùzhǒng (yù·zhǒng {giving birth to} · breeds → [breeding] 育种 育種)”, it can mean “give birth to”.

Verbs or Nouns

While “jiàoyù (jiào·yù teaching · educating [→ [education]] 教育)” and its constituent morphemes are verbs, they can also be nouns. As the MEotW post for “jiàodǎo (jiào·dǎo teaching · {guiding [→ [instructing]]} 教导 教導)” explains:

One interesting thing to note about “jiàodǎo (jiào·dǎo teaching · {guiding [→ [instructing]]} 教导 教導)” (and about “jiàoxun (teaching → [reprimanding | knowledge gained from an error] 教训 教訓)”, for that matter) is that their component morphemes seem to basically be verbs. In certain contexts, however, they are used as nouns. An example of this being done in English is that “teach” and “teaching” are verbs (e.g. “Jesus was teaching the crowd.”), but in certain contexts, “teaching” is used as a noun (e.g. “The crowd was amazed at the teaching Jesus shared with them.”). When a word is used this way, it’s called a verbal noun, or a gerundial noun. Verbal nouns are quite common in Mandarin.

Usage Examples

Here are a couple of examples of “jiàoyù (jiào·yù teaching · educating [→ [education]] 教育)” in use, taken from the above-mentioned article:

English:

Can Education and Money Guarantee a Secure Future?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Jiàoyù (Jiào·yù Teaching · Educating → [Education] 教育) hé ({(together) with} → [and] 和 和/龢) Cáifù (Cái·fù Wealth · {Being Wealthy} 财富 財富) Néng (Can 能) Dàigěi (Dài·gěi Bring · {to Give to} 带给 帶給) Rén (People 人) Měihǎo (Měi·hǎo Beautiful · Good 美好) de (’s 的) Wèilái (Wèi·lái (What) {Is Not Yet} · Come → [Future] 未来 未來) Ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)?

English:

Like Franklin, many have concluded that there is more to life than pursuing higher education and riches.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Hěn (very 很) duō (many 多) rén (people 人) gēn (with 跟) Āfù (Franklin 阿富) yíyàng (yí·yàng {(of) one} · pattern → [the same] 一样 一樣), kànchū (kàn·chū see · out 看出) shēnghuó (shēng·huó life · living 生活) zhōng (within 中) yǒuxiē (yǒu·xiē {(there) are having → [(there) are]} · some 有些) shì (things 事) bǐ ({compared to} 比) zhuīqiú (zhuī·qiú pursuing · seeking 追求) gāoděng (gāo·děng high(er) · rank 高等) jiàoyù (jiào·yù teaching · educating → [education] 教育) hé ({(together) with} → [and] 和 和/龢) cáifù (cái·fù wealth · {being wealthy} 财富 財富) gèng (more 更) zhòngyào (zhòng·yào {being weighty} · {being important} 重要).

Education in the “Deep Things” of the World

In addition to the issues discussed in the above-mentioned article, the world’s higher education also tends to indoctrinate people in the “deep things” of this world that we know is ruled by Satan. Regarding these, chapter 10, paragraph 17 of the Revelation Climax book says:

Satan has other “deep things” today, such as complicated speculations and philosophies that flatter the intellect. In addition to permissive, immoral reasonings, these include spiritism and the theory of evolution. How does the all-wise Creator regard these “deep things”? The apostle Paul quotes him as saying: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise ones.” In contrast thereto, “the deep things of God” are simple, lucid, and heartwarming. Wise Christians shun the “deep things” of Satan’s sophisticated world. Remember, “the world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever.”—1 Corinthians 1:19, Kingdom Interlinear; 2:10; 1 John 2:17.

Should Chinese characters be counted as being among the “deep things” of Satan’s world? Well, they do come from Satan’s world, and, as per the above quote’s description, they certainly are complicated, and many do seem to enjoy how they flatter the intellect. Also, if they are allowed to, they can serve Satan’s interests by greatly adding to the weighty difficulties faced by Mandarin field language learners. In this respect, Chinese characters are like all the human traditions surrounding the Sabbath that added unnecessary weighty burdens to those trying to serve God in Jesus’ time, except that instead of just affecting God’s people one day a week, characters make things much harder than necessary for Mandarin field language learners every single day.

The article “Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Was Plan A” says the following about the attitude of many of those highly educated in Chinese characters towards the prospect of Chinese writing reform that would make things much easier for future language learners:

…as noted above, “opposition [to Chinese writing reform] ‘comes primarily from intellectuals, especially from high level intellectuals.’ ” Lǔ Xùn (鲁迅/魯迅, Lu Xun), considered by many to be the greatest Chinese writer of the twentieth century (he wrote “The True Story of Ah-Q”, “Diary of a Madman”, and “My Old Hometown”), had this to say about the matter:

In addition to the limitations of social status and economic means, our Chinese characters present another high threshold to the masses: their difficulty. If you don’t spend ten or so years on them, it’s not easy to cross this threshold alone. Those who cross over it are the scholar-officials, and these same scholar-officials do their utmost to make writing as difficult as possible because it makes them especially dignified, surpassing all other ordinary scholar-officials.

…

Chinese characters and the Chinese literary language are already difficult enough by their own nature. On top of that, the scholar-officials have purposely devised all of these additional difficulties that get added on. Such being the case, how could anyone hope that the masses would have any affinity for the Chinese writing system? But the scholar-officials precisely want it to be this way. If the characters were easy to recognize and everybody could master them, then they would not be dignified, and the scholar-officials would lose their dignity along with them.

Being more concerned about one’s own “dignity” than about what would greatly relieve the suffering of others certainly sounds to me like an attitude that’s characteristic of people of Satan’s world. Don’t let Satan’s world—including its well-meaning Mandarin language teachers—“educate” you (in other words, brainwash you) into having such an ungodly and unchristian attitude!

Categories
Science Technology Theocratic

yǎnshēng

yǎnshēng (yǎn·shēng {spread [out]}; develop; amplify; overflow; {spill over} · {give birth/life to}; grow → [derive | develop; evolve; produce; give rise to] 衍生) ← 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.

“The Product of Random, Undirected Events?”

This week’s MEotW, which appears in the section of the Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure entitled “Jiǎnjiè (Jiǎn·jiè {Simple → [Brief]} · {Being Situated Between → [Introduction]} 简介 簡介)” (“Introduction”), is “yǎnshēng (yǎn·shēng {spread [out]}; develop; amplify; overflow; {spill over} · {give birth/life to}; grow → [derive | develop; evolve; produce; give rise to] 衍生)”:

English:

Was life created, or are you purely the product of random, undirected events?

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

📖 📄 📘 Shēngmìng (life 生命) láizì (lái·zì came · from 来自 來自) chuàngzào (chuàng·zào initiating · {making, creating} → [creating] 创造 創造) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)? Háishi (Hái·shi {still more → [or]} · {is (it a)} 还是 還是) chúncuì ({being pure} → [purely] 纯粹 純粹) yóu ({due to} 由/繇) yìxiē (yì·xiē one · {indefinite number of} → [some] 一些) suíjī (suí·jī {coming along with} · chance → [random] 随机 隨機), bú (not 不) shòu ({having received} 受) zhǐhuī (zhǐ·huī {(pointing with) finger → [pointing]} · {spraying → [directing]} → [directing] 指挥 指揮) de (’s 的) shìjiàn (shì·jiàn events · [mw] 事件) yǎnshēng (yǎn·shēng {having been spilled over} · {having been given birth to} → [having been produced] 衍生) chulai (chu·lai out · {to come} 出来 出來) de ({’s (thing)} 的) ne ([? ptcl] 呢)?

As can be seen from the above quotes, the Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure uses “yǎnshēng (yǎn·shēng {spread [out]}; develop; amplify; overflow; {spill over} · {give birth/life to}; grow → [derive | develop; evolve; produce; give rise to] 衍生)” to effectively mean “having been produced”.

Did Life Just Randomly “Spill Over” into Existence?

The “yǎn ({spread [out]}; develop; amplify; overflow; {spill over} [→ [[is] redundant; [is] superfluous]] 衍)” in “yǎnshēng (yǎn·shēng {spread [out]}; develop; amplify; overflow; {spill over} · {give birth/life to}; grow → [derive | develop; evolve; produce; give rise to] 衍生)” can mean “overflow” or “spill over”, so it well gives the impression of something that happens as a result of random, undirected processes, when there is not an intelligent person paying attention and directing things.

For comparison, consider three expressions that the Pleco app’s built-in dictionary uses as examples of expressions that include “yǎn ({spread [out]}; develop; amplify; overflow; {spill over} [→ [[is] redundant; [is] superfluous]] 衍)”:

  • yǎnjìn (yǎn·jìn {spread [out]}; develop; amplify; overflow; {spill over} · advance → [evolve] 衍进 衍進)
  • yǎnbiàn (yǎn·biàn {spread [out]}; develop; amplify; overflow; {spill over} · change → [develop; evolve] | {spreading [out]}; developing; amplifying; overflowing; {spilling over} · changing → [transformation; development; evolution; progressive change] 衍变 衍變)
  • yǎnwén (yǎn·wén {spread [out]; overflowed; spilled over → [redundant; superfluous]} · writing → [duplication/redundancy due to misprinting or miscopying] 衍文)

So, since “yǎnshēng (yǎn·shēng {spread [out]}; develop; amplify; overflow; {spill over} · {give birth/life to}; grow → [derive | develop; evolve; produce; give rise to] 衍生)” accurately expresses the randomness and passiveness of how supporters of evolution say life came to be, we should not use it when referring to how our Creator actually brought life into existence—with loving care and heaps of active intelligent direction.

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.