Tag: China

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Culture History Language Learning Science Theocratic

tiān‐yī‐wúfèng

tiān‐yī‐wúfèng ((tiān [(is)] heavenly 天)‐(yī garment 衣)‐(wú·fèng without · seams 无缝 無縫) → [[is] flawless]) 👈🏼 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.]

We in the Mandarin field should keep in mind that many Mandarin-speaking people were taught to believe in evolution, and thus tend to not believe in God. 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 they are still considered current publications, and 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. So, it would be good for us to consider some of the expressions used in the Mandarin versions of the Was Life Created? and Origin of Life brochures, which can be so helpful when discussing the fundamentally important question of whether life was created.

“Very Fortunate” Indeed!

This week’s MEotW, which appears in the first paragraph of the section of the Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure entitled “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)” (“The Living Planet”), is “tiān‐yī‐wúfèng ((tiān [(is)] heavenly 天)‐(yī garment 衣)‐(wú·fèng without · seams 无缝 無縫) → [[is] flawless])”:

English:

Life on earth could never exist were it not for a series of very fortunate “coincidences,”

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

📖 📄 📘 Dìqiú (Dì·qiú earth · globe 地球) zài (in 在) hěn (very 很) duō (many 多) fāngmiàn (fāng·miàn {directions → [sides]} · faces → [aspects] 方面) dōu ({all of them} 都) “qiǎohé (qiǎo·hé {being coincidental → [coincidentally]} · {closing → [matching]} → [coincidental] 巧合)” de (-ly 地) pèihe (pèi·he matches · {closes → [accords]} → [is suitable] 配合) de (getting 得) tiān‐yī‐wúfèng ((tiān (to be) heavenly 天)‐(yī garment 衣)‐(wú·fèng without · seams 无缝 無縫) → [to be flawless]), yào (if 要)‐bu ((it) not 不)‐shì ({would be} 是) zhèyàng (zhè·yàng this · {form → [way]} 这样 這樣), dìqiú (dì·qiú earth · globe 地球) shang (upon 上) gēnběn (gēn·běn {root (of a plant)} · {root or stem of a plant} → [basically] 根本) jiù (then 就) bù (not 不) kěnéng (could 可能) yǒu (have 有) shēngmìng (life 生命).

Where the English Was Life Created? brochure speaks of the “coincidences” that made life possible on earth as “very fortunate” (a bit of British understatement?), the Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure effectively says these “coincidences” made earth “suitable for life to a miraculously/superhumanly flawless extent”. In the process of doing so, it evokes the long-standing Chinese cultural concept of “Tiān (Heaven [→ [God]] 天),” or Heaven.

“Let Me Reintroduce You to…”

As the Lasting Peace brochure (English, Mandarin) helps us understand, this concept of “Tiān (Heaven [→ [God]] 天)” is a kind of conceptual bridge back to a time when historical records show that the Chinese worshipped one supreme deity:

WHO IS GOD?

TO THE Chinese, the concept of God, or Shang-di (literally “Emperor above”), is both foreign and abstract. Most people worship heaven and earth, spirits and demons, ancestors and other humans. Interestingly, however, according to Chinese historical records, between three and four thousand years ago, during the Xia and Shang dynasties, the Chinese were already worshipping one supreme deity. The book The Religious History of China explains that they “reckoned that between heaven and earth there was a principal God who stood supreme and had absolute control over all things. . . . This supreme deity came to be called Di, or Shang-di, during the Shang Dynasty, and was known as Tien [heaven], or Tien-di [Emperor in Heaven], during the Zhou Dynasty [11th century to 256 B.C.E.].” Thus, the ancient Chinese believed in the existence of a Supreme Sovereign of the universe.

During the Spring and Autumn period (c. 722-481 B.C.E.) and the Warring States period (c. 480-221 B.C.E.), Confucianism and Taoism gained ascendancy. Influenced by these two schools of thought, the worship of Shang-di was gradually replaced by the abstract idea of reverence for Tien. By the Han dynasty (202 B.C.E.–221 C.E.), under the dominance of Confucianism, the Chinese became engrossed in moral culture and social order, and the concept of Shang-di suffered another setback. With the spread of Buddhism into China, the Chinese no longer held to the belief of a Creator who is in control of the universe, but they accepted Heaven, or Providence, as the first cause of all things. Since then, the concept of God, or Shang-di, has become something completely foreign to most Chinese.

Who, then, really is God? The Bible shows that God is not a force or law of nature that governs the operation of all things in the universe. Nor is he Tien, which is venerated by many Chinese. Rather, God is a living spirit who has feelings and personality traits. He is the almighty and omniscient Sovereign of the Universe, and his love is boundless. Not only has he created all things but he also has a definite purpose for mankind—that we worship him with love and live forever on this beautiful earth in lasting peace and happiness.

(PDF files with 3-line material covering the Mandarin version of the above quotation from the Lasting Peace brochure can be downloaded from here (iPad-Letter-A4) or here (XLP-iPhone-A5). (Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material for the Lasting Peace brochure is in the works, but is not quite ready to be posted yet.) The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Lasting Peace brochure is: Lasting Peace Brochure Links (tiandi.info/pc).)

Use of this week’s MEotW in the Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure reflects good insight into what can help us to reach the hearts of the Chinese people we meet in the Mandarin field, as we reintroduce them to the “Supreme Sovereign of the universe” whom they once recognized and worshipped.

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.

Categories
Current Events Science Technology Theocratic

hé‐zhànzhēng

hé ({pit (of a fruit)} → [nuclear] 核 核/覈)‐zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war; warfare] 战争 戰爭) 👈🏼 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 “What Does the Bible Say About Nuclear War?”. Corresponding to the expression “nuclear war” that’s used in the English version of this article, the Mandarin version uses this week’s MEotW, “hé ({pit (of a fruit)} → [nuclear] 核 核/覈)‐zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war; warfare] 战争 戰爭)”:

English:

What Does the Bible Say About Nuclear War?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Guānyú (Guān·yú {Closing → [Relating]} · to 关于 關於) Hé ({Pit (of a Fruit)} → [Nuclear] 核 核/覈)‐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)?

The literal meaning of the “hé ({pit (of a fruit)} [→ [nucleus | nuclear]] 核 核/覈)” in “hé ({pit (of a fruit)} → [nuclear] 核 核/覈)‐zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war; warfare] 战争 戰爭)” is “pit (of a fruit)”, so it is not hard to see why this expression can be used to effectively mean “nucleus”, such as that of an atom. In turn, “nuclear” means “relating to the nucleus of an atom”.

Another place that we in the Mandarin field encounter this “hé ({pit (of a fruit)} [→ [nucleus | nuclear]] 核 核/覈)” is when it is used in the Origin of Life brochure, etc. to refer to the nuclei of living cells, like those in our own bodies. For example, in the Question 2 section of the Origin of Life brochure (“Is Any Form of Life Really Simple?”) can be found this sentence:

English:

Human, animal, and plant cells have a nucleus. Bacterial cells do not.

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

📖 📄 📘 Rénlèi (Rén·lèi human·kind 人类 人類) hé ({(together) with} → [and] 和 和/龢) dòng‐zhíwù ((dòng moving 动 動)‐(zhí·wù planted · things 植物) → [plants and animals]) de (’ 的) xìbāo (xì·bāo tiny · wombs → [cells] 细胞 細胞) dōu (all 都) yǒu (have 有) xìbāo (xì·bāo tiny · womb → [cell] 细胞 細胞)‐hé ({pit (of a fruit)} → [nucleus] 核 核/覈), xìjūn (xì·jūn tiny · bacteria → [bacteria] 细菌 細菌) de (’s 的) xìbāo (xì·bāo tiny · wombs → [cells] 细胞 細胞) zé ({in contrast} 则 則) méiyǒu (méi·yǒu not · {do have} (one) → [do not have (one)] 没有 沒有).

Short “Nuclear War”, No More Threat of Nuclear War

A shortened form of “hé ({pit (of a fruit)} → [nuclear] 核 核/覈)‐zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war; warfare] 战争 戰爭)” that we may encounter is “hézhàn (hé·zhàn {pit (of a fruit) → [nuclear]} · war; warfare 核战 核戰)”. This is used, for example, in one of the subheadings of the Mandarin version of the above-mentioned jw.org article:

English:

Does the Bible prophesy a nuclear Armageddon?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) yùgào (yù·gào fore·tells 预/豫告 預/豫告) de (’ 的) shìjiè (shì·jiè {generation → [world]} · extent’s → [world’s] 世界) mòrì (mò·rì end · {sun → [day]} 末日) shì (is 是) yì (one 一) chǎng ({large gathering place of a} → [mw for recreational, sports, or other activities] 场 場/塲) hézhàn (hé·zhàn {pit (of a fruit) → [nuclear]} · war 核战 核戰) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)?

With what’s been happening in the world (e.g., recent attacks intended to set back Iran’s ability to produce nuclear weapons, Putin’s nuclear sabre rattling and newly announced nuclear weapons, Trump’s talk of resuming nuclear testing, the recent rapid expansion of China’s nuclear arsenal, a recent Netflix movie about how a nuclear war could start, …), nuclear war is on people’s minds more and more. May we be well-prepared to help honest-hearted Mandarin-speaking people learn about how Jehovah God will soon remove all cause for anxiety in this regard.

Categories
Culture History Language Learning Names Technology

jiǎntǐ‐zì

jiǎntǐ (jiǎn·tǐ simplified · {body → [style] → [typeface; font]} → [simplified Chinese] 简体 簡體)‐zì (characters 字) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[This is a reposting of a post that was originally posted on December 7, 2020. I took the opportunity to flesh out the original post and this repost with additional material.]

For a long, long, long time, Chinese characters were just Chinese characters. Then, in 1956, the Communist government of mainland China issued what came to be known as the First Chinese Character Simplification Scheme (a second round of Chinese character simplification was later attempted and ultimately rescinded), and official simplified Chinese characters came into the world. (Some characters had been unofficially simplified and used for various purposes, both everyday and artistic, before that.)

On the matter of what simplified Chinese characters are called in Mandarin, Wikipedia provides this summary:

Simplified Chinese characters may be referred to by their official name above [(简化字; jiǎnhuàzì)[source]] or colloquially (简体字; jiǎntǐzì). In its broadest sense, the latter term refers to all characters that have undergone simplifications of character “structure” or “body”[source], some of which have existed for millennia alongside regular, more complicated forms. On the other hand, the official name refers to the modern systematically simplified character set, which (as stated by then-Chairman Mao Zedong in 1952) includes not only structural simplification but also substantial reduction in the total number of standardized Chinese characters.[source]

For reference, this is the term used on jw.org when referring to Mandarin written using simplified Chinese characters:

jw.org referring to Mandarin written using simplified Chinese characters

jw.org refers to simplified Chinese characters as “jiǎntǐ (jiǎn·tǐ simplified · {body → [style] → [typeface; font]} → [simplified Chinese] 简体 簡體)” characters.

The Great Simplified vs. Traditional Debate

While it seems obvious that simpler is generally better, there is actually much, much debate about the pros and cons of simplified characters vs. traditional characters, as discussed in these articles:

The following posts summarize how many feel about traditional and simplified characters:

Standards and Compromises

While the simplified characters themselves are indeed easier to learn and remember compared to the traditional characters, for many, they have become another set of characters in addition to the traditional characters that has to be learned and remembered. (There is, at least, some overlap between the two systems. Where do they overlap? That is yet more information that has to be learned and remembered…) And while simplified characters have been simplified, they are still characters, and characters are inherently extraordinarily complex and hard to learn and remember.

xkcd: Standards

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial Licence logo Randall Munroe [source]

The simplified characters became a new standard that many have had to learn in addition to that of the traditional characters.

While Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is also a different system to be learned and remembered, it is in a whole different league compared to any system of Chinese characters when it comes to ease of learning and remembering. One of the scholars who helped create Hangul (or Hankul), the Korean alphabet, said of it: “The wise can learn it in one morning, and even the unwise can learn it in ten days.” Being also a phonetic alphabet, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) can be reasonably said to be in the same ballpark (with the added advantage that the Latin alphabet letters used in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) are already familiar to many people)—downright revolutionary compared to the years (decades?) required to learn even simplified characters.

Simplified characters are thus a compromise that mainland China, Singapore, etc. have settled on—simpler than traditional characters, but perhaps thus not as good at being characters. Meanwhile, they are still characters, still having many of the complexities and vagaries of characters. They fall short of the fundamental reform envisioned by Máo Zédōng ((Máo Hair (surname) 毛) (Zé·dōng Marsh · East 泽东 澤東) (the founder of the People’s Republic of China)) (Wikipedia article), Lǔ Xùn ((Lǔ Stupid; Rash (surname) 鲁 魯) (Xùn Fast; Quick; Swift 迅) (pen name of Zhōu Shùrén, the greatest Chinese writer of the 20th cent. and a strong advocate of alphabetic writing)) (Wikipedia article), and others, that would have involved eventually moving on from any kind of characters to alphabetic writing.

Letter from Máo Zédōng endorsing a transition from Chinese characters to alphabetic writing

A letter written by Máo Zédōng ((Máo Hair (surname) 毛) (Zé·dōng Marsh · East 泽东 澤東) (the founder of the People’s Republic of China)) endorsing “a basic reform” involving a transition from Chinese characters to alphabetic writing1

 

1. John DeFrancis, The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1984), p. ii. ^