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cānzhàn

cānzhàn (cān·zhàn {take part in; participate in} · war 参战 參戰) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · 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.]

About six months since Russia sent significant military forces into Ukraine in February, the resulting war continues to rage on. It is appropriate, then, that as of this writing, jw.org is featuring the article “Christians and War—What Does the Bible Say?”. The Mandarin version of this article makes use of the expression “cānzhàn (cān·zhàn {take part in; participate in} · war 参战 參戰)”, this week’s MEotW.

Abbreviated

One interesting thing to note about “cānzhàn (cān·zhàn {take part in; participate in} · war 参战 參戰)” is that it can be thought of as an abbreviation for “cānyù ({take part in; participate in} 参与 參與/預) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war; warfare] 战争 戰爭)”, the result of putting together the first morphemes of those expressions. Indeed, “cānzhàn (cān·zhàn {take part in; participate in} · war 参战 參戰)”/“cānyù ({take part in; participate in} 参与 參與/預) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war; warfare] 战争 戰爭)” occur multiple times in the above-mentioned Mandarin article, each time meaning the same thing.

Usage examples

Here are some examples of “cānzhàn (cān·zhàn {take part in; participate in} · war 参战 參戰)”/“cānyù ({take part in; participate in} 参与 參與/預) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war; warfare] 战争 戰爭)” in use, taken from the above-mentioned article:

English:

Christians and War—What Does the Bible Say?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Jīdūtú (Jīdū·tú Christ · Followers → [Christians] 基督徒) Gāi (Should 该 該) Cānzhàn (Cān·zhàn {Take Part in} · War 参战 參戰) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)? Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) Zěnme (Zěn·me What · [suf] 怎么 怎麼/麽) Shuō ({Does Say} 说 說/説)?

English:

Should Christians take part in war? What does the Bible say?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Jīdūtú (Jīdū·tú Christ · Followers → [Christians] 基督徒) yīnggāi (should 应该 應該) cānyù ({take part in} 参与 參與/預) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war] 战争 戰爭) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)? Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) zěnme (zěn·me what · [suf] 怎么 怎麼/麽) shuō ({does say} 说 說/説)?

English:

The Bible shows that those who truly follow Jesus Christ do not engage in warfare.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) shuō (says 说 說/説), nèixiē (nèi·xiē that · {indefinite number of} → [those] 那些) zhēnzhèng (zhēn·zhèng truly · properly 真正) gēnsuí (following 跟随 跟隨) Yēsū (Jesus 耶稣 耶穌) de (’ 的) rén (persons 人) búhuì (bú·huì not · will → [will not] 不会 不會) cānyù ({take part in} 参与 參與/預) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war] 战争 戰爭).

English:

Is it realistic for Christians to avoid engaging in warfare today? Yes.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Jīntiān (Jīn·tiān present · {sky → [day]} → [today] 今天), Jīdūtú (Jīdū·tú Christ · Followers → [Christians] 基督徒) zhēnde (zhēn·de really · ’s 真的) kěyǐ (kě·yǐ can · [suf] 可以) bǎochí (bǎo·chí protect · hold → [maintain] 保持) zhōnglì (zhōng·lì middle · standing → [neutrality] 中立), bù (not 不) cānyù ({take part in} 参与 參與/預) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war] 战争 戰爭) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)? Kěyǐ (Kě·yǐ (they) can · [suf] 可以).

Categories
Culture Current Events

hūxī

hūxī (hū·xī {breathing out}; exhaling · {breathing in}; inhaling → [breathing] 呼吸) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

Hūxī (Hū·xī {breathing out}; exhaling · {breathing in}; inhaling → [breathing] 呼吸), the Mandarin word for “breathe”, literally translates as “breathe out breath in”. This is an interesting contrast to the English expression “breathe in, breathe out”, which refers to the same thing, just in a different culturally selected order.

Another example of East and West coming at the same thing from different directions is that in the English-speaking world, a “compass” is generally thought of as pointing north, whereas “zhǐnán‐zhēn ((zhǐ·nán {(points with) finger → [points]} · south 指南)‐(zhēn needle 针 針) → [compass])” (a previous MEotW)”, the Mandarin word for the same thing, in contrast means a needle that points south.

In both the above examples, neither the Eastern view nor the Western view is wrong—they’re just different.

“The Ballad of East and West”

Rudyard Kipling’s poem “The Ballad of East and West” begins with these lines:

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!

The first line quoted above is often referred to in order to emphasize how the gap between East and West can seem insurmountable. (By the way, “twain” is an archaic term for “two”. So, “never the twain shall meet” means “never the two shall meet”.) However, there is more to the poem.

The other lines quoted above express that individuals who are spiritually strong enough to do so can overcome any differences in culture, nationality, race, class, place of birth, etc. that may happen to exist between them. And, as we know, this is especially true when those individuals let themselves be taught by the God of peace, who “will judge to the ends of the earth”.–Isaiah 54:13; 1 Samuel 2:10.

So, in this unusually hot summer when the world is figuratively and literally on fire, let us take a moment, hūxī (hū·xī {breathe out} · {breathe in} → [breathe] 呼吸), and take in Jehovah God’s instruction, like that which is included in the sessions of the 2022 “Pursue Peace”! convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Categories
Current Events History Theocratic

āijiā‐āihù

āijiā‐āihù ((āi·jiā {one after another} · households 挨家)‐(āi·hù {one after another} · doors 挨户 挨戶) → [door[-/ ]to[-/ ]door; house[-/ ]to[-/ ]house]) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · 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 of this writing, the English version of jw.org is featuring this announcement:

BREAKING NEWS | House-to-House Preaching Will Resume on September 1, 2022

The Mandarin version of jw.org renders this announcement this way:

📖 📄 📘 JÍSHÍ (JÍ·SHÍ {(IMMEDIATELY) APPROACHING} · {(PARTICULAR) TIME} → [(OF NEWS) LIVE] 即时 即時) XĪNWÉN (XĪN·WÉN NEW · {(THAT WHICH) IS HEARD} → [NEWS] 新闻 新聞) | 2022 Nián (Year 年 年/秊) 9 Yuè (Moon → [Month] 月) 1 Rì (Sun → [Day] 日) Huīfù ({(There) Will Be Restored} → [(There) Will Be Resumed] 恢复 恢復) Āijiā‐Āihù ((Āi·jiā {One After Another} · Households 挨家)‐(Āi·hù {One After Another} · Doors 挨户 挨戶) → [House-to-House]) Chuándào (Chuán·dào Spreading · Way → [Preaching] 传道 傳道)

As can be seen from the above Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus information, the organization is currently translating “house-to-house” into Mandarin as “āijiā‐āihù ((āi·jiā {one after another} · households 挨家)‐(āi·hù {one after another} · doors 挨户 挨戶) → [house-to-house])”, which literally means “one after another households one after another doors”.

Blasts from the Past

Chinese field “old-timers” may remember that this wasn’t always the expression used to translate “house-to-house”. Here are some expressions that have been used to do so in the past:

  • āijiā‐zhúhù ((āi·jiā {one after another} · households 挨家)‐(zhú·hù {one by one} · doors 逐户 逐戶) → [door[-/ ]to[-/ ]door; house[-/ ]to[-/ ]house (old translation)])

    • Regarding this expresison, the Referenced Theocratic Expressions (RTE) resource says: “from house to house (old translation); Acts 5:42 NWT(2001-C 1984-E, 2013 not checked) +pinyin “from house to house”; w11 2/1 p.13 ∼传道 “door-to-door preaching”. Without the hanzi, it seems this is not recognisable to most Chinese; one suggested 每家都去 (měi jiā dōu qù); 2019-NWT uses 挨家挨户 āijiā’āihù (which is in ABC [the ABC Chinese-English Dictionary])”
    • “Zhúhù (Zhú·hù {one by one} · doors → [door[-/ ]to[-/ ]door] 逐户 逐戶)” on its own has been used in the past.
      • RTE says about this expression: “house-to-house; w08 7/15 1st std article title (dict.cn “door to door”). See also 挨家逐户. Without the hanzi, it seems this is not recognisable to most Chinse, so try using 每家都去 instead.”
  • zhújiā‐zhúhù ((zhú·jiā {one by one} · households 逐家)‐(zhú·hù {one by one} · doors 逐户 逐戶) → [door[-/ ]to[-/ ]door; house[-/ ]to[-/ ]house (old translation)])

    • RTE: “house-to-house; 2009 songbook song 101; g00 7/8 p.30. See also 逐户, 挨家逐户, 挨家挨户 (ABC dictionary), and 逐家.”
    • As with “zhúhù (zhú·hù {one by one} · doors → [door[-/ ]to[-/ ]door] 逐户 逐戶)”, “zhújiā (zhú·jiā {one by one} · households → [house[-/ ]to[-/ ]house (old translation)] 逐家)” has also been used on its own in the past.

      • RTE: “house-by-house; my 108 (Paul entering one house after another to persecute). In 2009 songbook song 101 as part of 逐家逐户 (hence wtl09 doesn’t find this occurrence if you search for just 逐家)”

Sticking with False “Perfection” vs. Progress

While the older expressions mentioned above are not technically wrong or incorrect, the currently used expression “āijiā‐āihù ((āi·jiā {one after another} · households 挨家)‐(āi·hù {one after another} · doors 挨户 挨戶) → [door[-/ ]to[-/ ]door; house[-/ ]to[-/ ]house])” is the best one the organization knows of at this time for translating the English expression “house-to-house”.

Some criticize Jehovah’s organization for sometimes changing rather than somehow being completely perfect from the beginning, but change is required for progress. The alternative for any imperfect humans in this system of things is to continue being less correct, less good than they could be, e.g. continuing to believe in hellfire, the Trinity, etc., and continuing to meddle in politics, to support the wars of human nations, etc. We can be thankful then that Jehovah’s organization continues to pursue better and better ways of thinking, speaking (and translating), and doing. As the Bible says at Proverbs 4:18:

But the path of the righteous is like the bright morning light
That grows brighter and brighter until full daylight.