Tag: Glamourization of Characters

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Culture Language Learning Science Theocratic

jīngmíng

jīngmíng (jīng·míng {[is] sharp; clever; shrewd; smart} · {[is] bright → [[is] understanding]} → [[is] shrewd; astute] 精明) ← 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 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.

Be Shrewd, not Naive

Like past MEotW “tiānzhēn (tiān·zhēn {(of) heaven → [natural]} · {(following) natural instincts} → [innocent; naive; simple and unaffected | (human) nature] 天真)”, this week’s MEotW, “jīngmíng (jīng·míng {[is] sharp; clever; shrewd; smart} · {[is] bright → [[is] understanding]} → [[is] shrewd; astute] 精明)”, occurs in Proverbs 14:15, which is quoted in the introductory section of the Origin of Life brochure, entitled, in English, “A Student’s Dilemma”. While the Origin of Life brochure, published in 2010, quotes older versions of the New World Translation Bible in its text, let us consider how this scripture is rendered in the current English and Mandarin translations of the NWT Bible:

English:

The naive person believes every word,
But the shrewd one ponders each step.

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

📖 📄 📘 Tiānzhēn (Tiān·zhēn {(of) heaven → [natural]} · {(following) natural instincts} → [naive] 天真) wúzhī (wú·zhī without · {knowing → [knowledge]} → [ignorant] 无知 無知) de (’s 的) rén (person 人), fán (every 凡 凡/凢) huà (word 话 話) dōu ({every one} 都) xìn (believes 信);
Jīngmíng (Jīng·míng shrewd · {bright → [understanding]} → [shrewd] 精明) shěnshèn (shěn·shèn {examining → [careful]} · cautious 审慎 審慎) de (’ 的) rén (person 人), bùbù (bù·bù step · step → [at every step] 步步) liúxīn (liú·xīn {makes to stay} · {heart} → [is careful] 留心).

Looking at the morphemes in “jīngmíng (jīng·míng {[is] sharp; clever; shrewd; smart} · {[is] bright → [[is] understanding]} → [[is] shrewd; astute] 精明)”, “jīng ({[(having)] energy; spirit} [→ [refined; excellent]] | {[is] sharp; clever; shrewd; smart} | {[is] skilled; proficient} | {[is] meticulous; precise} | essence | sperm; semen; seed 精)” here means “[is] sharp; clever; shrewd; smart”. In other contexts, it can have other meanings, as it does in “jīngdú (jīng·dú meticulous · reading 精读 精讀) běn ({root or stem} → [edition] 本)” (used in the name of the Mandarin New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition)), “jīngshén (spirit [→ [mind; mental state; psycho-; -ism]] 精神)”, “shòujīng luǎn ((shòu·jīng received · sperm; semen; seed → [fertilized] 受精) (luǎn ovum; egg 卵) → [fertilized egg/ovum; zygote])”, etc.

As for “míng ({[is] bright} [→ [[is] understanding]] | {[make] clear; distinct [→ [sense of vision; sight | sharp-eyed; clear-sighted]]} | next (day/year…) 明)”, its basic literal meaning is “[is] bright”, and it also often has an effective meaning of “[is] understanding”, as it does in “jīngmíng (jīng·míng {[is] sharp; clever; shrewd; smart} · {[is] bright → [[is] understanding]} → [[is] shrewd; astute] 精明)” as well as in the well-known expression “míngbai (míng·bai {[is] bright [(about)] → [[is] understanding]} · clearly 明白)”.

Taken together, the morphemes in “jīngmíng (jīng·míng {[is] sharp; clever; shrewd; smart} · {[is] bright → [[is] understanding]} → [[is] shrewd; astute] 精明)” are used to effectively mean “[is] shrewd; astute”.

Being Shrewd with Regard to Evolution and Creation

Those who are truly shrewd will not be swayed by the prevailing winds blowing through the “air” of this world, “the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience”. These prevailing winds constantly push people in the direction of believing, among other things, the baseless fairy tales of evolution, which serve “the ruler of the authority of the air”, Satan the Devil, and distance us from our loving Creator Jehovah God.—Ephesians 2:2.

Rather than just going along with the fēngqì (fēng·qì {winds → [common practices]} · {airs → [attitudes]} 风气 風氣) of Satan’s world, let us take to heart the counsel at Ephesians 4:14:

So we should no longer be children, tossed about as by waves and carried here and there by every wind of teaching by means of the trickery of men, by means of cunning in deceptive schemes.

Being Shrewd with Regard to Learning Mandarin

Us Mandarin field language learners will also show ourselves to be shrewd if we stand firm against the prevailing winds of characters-first thinking that comes from traditional worldly Chinese culture. Such thinking serves to glorify and glamourize a vain and proud part of Satan’s world, the only nation that names itself the “Central Nation” (past MEotW Zhōngguó (Zhōng·guó Central · Nation → [China] 中国 中國)) of the world, and this kind of thinking’s focus on the extraordinarily and unnecessarily complex square wheels that are Chinese characters can end up bogging down our efforts in the Mandarin field to glorify Jehovah and give spiritual assistance to right-hearted Mandarin-speaking people.

Instead of going along with the world’s focus on the self-indulgently complex Chinese characters, let us focus in the Mandarin field on learning to be able to hear with comprehension and produce with clarity understandable speech, as the Bible itself emphasizes at 1 Corinthians 14:8–11:

For if the trumpet sounds an indistinct call, who will get ready for battle? In the same way, unless you with the tongue use speech that is easily understood [emphasis added—Ed.], how will anyone know what is being said? You will, in fact, be speaking into the air. It may be that there are many kinds of speech in the world, and yet no kind is without meaning. For if I do not understand the sense of the speech, I will be a foreigner to the one speaking, and the one speaking will be a foreigner to me.

Remember, while the Chinese people of times past may have invented Chinese characters, Jehovah God, who inspired the above passage of scripture, invented human language itself, and he knows way more than the ancient Chinese did about how us humans should learn and use language. Also, Jehovah is ultimately who we are working for in the Mandarin field, so that’s yet another reason to follow his direction over that of worldly Chinese people when it comes to how we should learn and use the Mandarin language in his service.

For convenience:

The direct link for the current generation Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Origin of Life brochure is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Origin of Life 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 Origin of Life 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 History Language Learning Science Theocratic

chuán

chuán (boat; ship; vessel 船 船/舩) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

This week, we are revisiting “chuán (boat; ship; vessel 船 船/舩)”, an expression that was featured in an early Expression of the Week post on the tiandi.info blog. (If you need login information for the parts of tiandi.info that require it, request it by email, and include information on how you learned of tiandi.info and/or what group/cong. you are in.)

As shown in the image below, the first printing of the Insight book (on p. 328 of Volume 1) included a section regarding the Chinese character for “chuán (boat; ship; vessel 船 船/舩)”:

P. 328 of Vol. 1 of the first printing of the _Insight_ book (1988), with a section about “船”

However, this section on this Chinese character no longer appears in current versions of the Insight book. Why might it have been removed?

Murky Speculation

Several years after the above-mentioned tiandi.info post was originally posted, I appended the following update to it:

Note that the section about the Chinese character “船 (chuán)” that was originally in the Insight book, Vol. 1, p. 328 is not present in the more recently published Chinese version of the Insight book.

Perhaps it was eventually decided that the origins of Chinese characters, which have been used for thousands of years, are too murky to do anything more than speculate about. I myself have recently become convinced that Chinese characters in general have been over-glamourized by the world.

It’s also worth going over an interesting, well-researched comment that the tiandi.info post mentioned above received. (Thanks again, Ed!) Here are a couple of excerpts from it:

The Insight article isn’t the only place in the Slave’s writings that the reference to this Chinese character appears. It originally appeared in the article “Chinese Characters—Why Are They Written That Way?” in g84 8/8 p. 23 [Here is a link to that article. Note that in addition to mentioning “chuán (boat; ship; vessel 船 船/舩)”, this old article unfortunately repeats the Ideographic Myth. Also, it conflates language with writing, when actually, linguists understand that language primarily has to do with speech.—ed.], which ended with the caveat, “The similarity between the thoughts behind many of the Chinese characters and the Bible record of man’s early history is nothing less than remarkable. Although the evidence is only circumstantial, it is, nonetheless, fascinating to think that there is a possibility that the Chinese [characters contain Biblical concepts].”

The article was written in response to the book The Discovery of Genesis: How the Truths of Genesis Were Found Hidden in the Chinese Language, which had been published only a few years earlier. This book is full of fascinating parallels between Biblical accounts and elements that appear to comprise certain Chinese characters.

There are many resources available these days even to English speakers that contain scholarly research into the meaning and origins of Chinese characters. During the course of learning the language, I have made it a hobby to investigate some of these. I have to say that, based on what I have discovered, I disagree with the coauthors of Discovery of Genesis. In fact, there is a web site that has existed for several years for the purpose of rebutting these claims. While I don’t know the author’s motive for putting up the page, it does seem to have logical arguments.

…

For an alternative to Zhongwen.com, you could try looking up 船 at this site. (Disclosure: this web site is run by me.)

Truly right-hearted people won’t be stumbled if we share accurate knowledge from the Bible with them. But in any case, it’s best not to get too involved with matters of speculation that could be of interest to us but not have a direct bearing on God’s word of truth.

Sound vs. Meaning

The Raccoon Bend website page mentioned in the above quote contains some technical points such as the following:

A typical error made…is to analyze a semantic-phonetic compound as though it were compound-indicative (which they refer to as “ideographic”).

In other words, some mistakenly treat a character component that indicates sound as if it indicates meaning. The information at the Chinese-Characters.org link that the brother quoted above provided indicates that doing that with “船” seems to be what led to the story of “vessel + eight + mouths/persons”, when this character should actually be understood as being made up of the components “vessel + [phonetic (sound) component]”.

Stories vs. the Truth

As humans, we naturally love stories, since our minds use stories to make sense of the world around us. Also, stories add or reveal meaning or significance regarding things that these things would lack if they were not part of a story. However, not all stories are true. And while even fictional stories can help to reveal deeper truths about life, like Jesus’ parables did, false stories can take us farther away from the truth, if we let them. As the apostle Paul warned in 2 Timothy 4:3, 4:

For there will be a period of time when they will not put up with the wholesome teaching, but according to their own desires, they will surround themselves with teachers to have their ears tickled. They will turn away from listening to the truth and give attention to false stories.

While Chinese characters sometimes have appealing stories attached to them, let us make sure that we don’t let mere love of a good story take us away from the truth in any way. While naive tourists may be easily misled by appealing but false stories, as literal or figurative missionaries in the Mandarin field, we have a responsibility to serve God and our Mandarin-speaking neighbours “with spirit and truth”.—John 4:23, 24.

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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.