Tag: Great Wall

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shěshēn

shěshēn (shě·shēn {give up}; abandon · {body [→ [life]]} [→ [give/sacrifice one’s life/oneself | become a monk (Buddhism)]] 舍身 捨身) ← 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.]

I have long especially liked 1 Corinthians 13. It contains counsel on what really does and doesn’t matter in life, an extensive description and definition of the most important kind of love, and a sublime discussion about the need to become complete, mature, as a person. As these apply to life in general, so too do they apply to our lives as Mandarin field language learners.

As Mandarin field language learners, it can benefit us greatly to consider what we can learn from 1 Corinthians 13, and along the way, we can also consider some of the Mandarin expressions used in that chapter in the current version of the Mandarin New World Translation Bible (nwtsty).

“If I Hand Over My Body…”

This week’s MEotW, “shěshēn (shě·shēn {give up}; abandon · {body [→ [life]]} [→ [give/sacrifice one’s life/oneself | become a monk (Buddhism)]] 舍身 捨身)”, is used in verse 3 (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus) of 1 Corinthians 13:

Screenshot of “_shěshēn_” in 1 Co. 13:3 (nwtsty, CHS+_Pīnyīn_ WOL)

(Dark mode for the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY (WOL) website, as shown in the above image, can be enabled in the Safari web browser by using the Noir Safari extension.)

In “shěshēn (shě·shēn {give up}; abandon · {body [→ [life]]} [→ [give/sacrifice one’s life/oneself | become a monk (Buddhism)]] 舍身 捨身)”, “shě ({give up}; abandon 舍 捨/舍/捈)” means “give up; abandon”. As for “shēn (body [→ [self]] 身)”, it literally means “body”, and is sometimes used to effectively mean “self”, as the MEotW post on “shēn (body → [self] 身)‐lín ({being present (in)} 临 臨)‐qí (his/her/its/their… 其)‐jìng ({(set of) boundaries → [(bounded) place; area] → [condition; situation; circumstances]} 境)” pointed out:

In “shēn (body → [self] 身)‐lín ({being present (in)} 临 臨)‐qí (his/her/its/their… 其)‐jìng ({(set of) boundaries → [(bounded) place; area] → [condition; situation; circumstances]} 境)”, “shēn (body [→ [self]] 身)”, which literally means “body”, is used to effectively mean “self”. Another Mandarin expression in which “shēn (body [→ [self]] 身)” is used this way is “xiànshēn (xiàn·shēn {offer → [dedicate]} · {body → [self]} | {offering of → [dedicating of]} · {body → [self]} → [dedication] 献身 獻身)”, which literally means “offer body”, but which effectively means “dedicate self”, as one does before getting baptized.

However, it seems that “shēn (body [→ [self]] 身)” is used in 1 Corinthians 13:3 to actually mean “body”, especially considering that the English translation of the phrase it appears in is “hand over my body”:

English:

And if I give all my belongings to feed others, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I do not benefit at all.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Wǒ (I 我) jiùsuàn (jiù·suàn {even if} · {figuring → [considering]} 就算) biànmài (biàn·mài changing · sell → [sell off] 变卖 變賣) yíqiè (yí·qiè {one (whole)} · {corresponding (set of)} → [all] 一切) cáiwù (cái·wù (my) wealth · things → [(my) belongings] 财物 財物), ràng ({to allow} 让 讓) rén (people 人) yǒu ({to have} 有) shíwù (shí·wù eating · matter → [food] 食物) chī ({to eat} 吃 吃/喫), hái (also 还 還) shěshēn (shě·shēn {give up} · {(my) body} 舍身 捨身) juānqū (juān·qū {relinquish → [contribute]} · {(my) human body} 捐躯 捐軀), yǐcǐ (yǐ·cǐ using · this 以此) zìkuā (zì·kuā {(about) self} · {to boast} 自夸 自誇), què (but 却 卻) méiyǒu (méi·yǒu not · {do have} 没有 沒有) ài (love 爱 愛), zhè (this 这 這) duì (towards → [to] 对 對) wǒ (me 我) yě (even 也) háowú (háo·wú {(even) a fine hair (of)} · {does not have} → [does not have even a little] 毫无 毫無) yìchu (yì·chu beneficial · place → [benefit] 益处 益處).

In other contexts, “shěshēn (shě·shēn {give up}; abandon · {body [→ [life]]} [→ [give/sacrifice one’s life/oneself | become a monk (Buddhism)]] 舍身 捨身)” could effectively mean “give/sacrifice one’s life/oneself”, or, as used by Buddhists, “become a monk”.

“…So That I May Boast”?

Some Mandarin field language learners may feel that they deserve credit (and maybe a little glory) for the blood, sweat, and tears they have shed to acquire extensive knowledge of the Chinese characters. Perhaps so, but the taking of such pains is not in itself a guarantee that what these pains were taken for is completely and truly worthy and commendable. Colossians 2:23 comes to mind:

Although those things have an appearance of wisdom in a self-imposed form of worship and a false humility, a harsh treatment of the body, they are of no value in combating the satisfying of the flesh.

In other words, just because something is hard, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s good, or was done with good motive, whether that something involves spiritual things, like Paul was speaking of, or technical matters such as which writing system technology to use in a particular situation.

Yes, Chinese characters are hard, and they are the traditionally used writing system for Mandarin Chinese, so a certain amount of hard work may be needed at times to learn (and sometimes relearn) certain Chinese characters if one is to function well in the Mandarin field, and many Mandarin field language learners have shown love by being willing to put in the necessary effort in such situations. However, in other situations, such as when an easier alternative like Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is readily available, as is becoming more and more the case these days, what would be proved by continuing to bash one’s head against the Great Wall of Chinese characters when it’s not actually necessary?

Besides, as linguists (language scientists) and God’s Word the Bible (at 1 Corinthians 14:8–11) both tell us, what’s really of primary importance in how we use language in God’s service is, not writing systems like Chinese characters, but understandable speech. With points like the above in mind, let us continue to make sure that we are using our precious, limited, dedicated time well, out of love, and not just so that we may “boast”.

The Great Wall of China

Why keep bashing your head against the Great Wall of characters when Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) makes available a way around it?

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Culture Current Events Language Learning Theocratic

shǔlíng zhànzhēng

shǔlíng (shǔ·líng {(in the) category (of)} · spirit → [spiritual (nwtsty-CHS Appx. A2 notes change from “shǔlíng” to “xīnlíng”, etc.)] 属灵 屬靈)
zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war; warfare] 战争 戰爭) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

Lately, the organzation has often been using “xīnlíng (xīn·líng heart · spirit [→ [spiritual]] 心灵 心靈)” (MEotW post) where it used to use “shǔlíng (shǔ·líng {(in the) category (of)} · spirit → [spiritual (nwtsty-CHS Appx. A2 notes change from “shǔlíng” to “xīnlíng”, etc.)] 属灵 屬靈)”. I noticed that in at least one of the videos presented during this year’s Mandarin convention, for example. However, a recent search on the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY for “心灵战争” (“xīnlíng (xīn·líng heart · spirit → [spiritual] 心灵 心靈) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war] 战争 戰爭)”, a possible translation for “spiritual war”) returns no results at all. Searching for “心灵 战争”, with a space between the two words, returns some results, but not for the complete expression “xīnlíng (xīn·líng heart · spirit → [spiritual] 心灵 心靈) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war; warfare] 战争 戰爭)”. So, it seems like for now at least, “xīnlíng (xīn·líng heart · spirit → [spiritual] 心灵 心靈) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war; warfare] 战争 戰爭)” is not an officially used thing. However, a search on the WOL for this week’s MEotW, “shǔlíng (shǔ·líng {(in the) category (of)} · spirit → [spiritual (nwtsty-CHS Appx. A2 notes change from “shǔlíng” to “xīnlíng”, etc.)] 属灵 屬靈) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war; warfare] 战争 戰爭)”, did return some fairly recent results, including one from the May 2018 Watchtower.

It may just be that the English expression “spiritual war” has not come up in the organization’s production pipeline for translation into Mandarin for a while. I suppose time will tell if “xīnlíng (xīn·líng heart · spirit → [spiritual] 心灵 心靈) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war; warfare] 战争 戰爭)” eventually becomes a replacement translation for “shǔlíng (shǔ·líng {(in the) category (of)} · spirit → [spiritual (nwtsty-CHS Appx. A2 notes change from “shǔlíng” to “xīnlíng”, etc.)] 属灵 屬靈) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war; warfare] 战争 戰爭)”. For now at least, it seems that “shǔlíng (shǔ·líng {(in the) category (of)} · spirit → [spiritual (nwtsty-CHS Appx. A2 notes change from “shǔlíng” to “xīnlíng”, etc.)] 属灵 屬靈) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war; warfare] 战争 戰爭)” is still a relatively currently used official translation of “spiritual war”.—Ephesians 6:11, 12; 2 Corinthians 10:4, 5.

[Note, 2023-07-26: While searching the WOL for “spiritual war” returned limited post-2018 results, a more advanced search suggested by a reader turned up some more recent results, with some interesting Mandarin translations that are different from “shǔlíng (shǔ·líng {(in the) category (of)} · spirit → [spiritual (nwtsty-CHS Appx. A2 notes change from “shǔlíng” to “xīnlíng”, etc.)] 属灵 屬靈) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war; warfare] 战争 戰爭)”. For more information, see the next MEotW post.]

Know the Enemy

Speaking of war, many would agree that there is wisdom in this quote from Sūn Zǐ ((Sūn {Grandson (surname)} 孙 孫) (Zǐ Son’s; Child’s; Offspring’s 子) → [Sun Tzu’s]) Bīngfǎ (Bīng·fǎ Soldier’s · Way → [Art of War] 兵法) (孫子兵法, The Art of War):

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

With that in mind, let us consider a hypothetical scene from the command centre of Satan and the demons for their spiritual war against Jehovah and against the truth, taking place some time in the early part of the 21st century:

***

The Other Side of the Mandarin Front

Satan: Our hated Enemy Jehovah is raising up more workers for the Mandarin field. What is the state of our defences in this largest language field of all?

Demon: There is a useful government in place in China, where about 95% of all the earth’s Chinese people live. This government is intent on and efficient at suppressing all conceivable threats to its power, including religions like that of Jehovah’s people, that refuse to obey it rather than their God. This government even has a project underway to rewrite the Bible so that it serves their interests, those cheeky darlings!

Culturally, many proud, long-standing, personally inhibiting traditions are in place, making it difficult for many Mandarin-speakers to accept the truth, or to progress spiritually or otherwise as individuals if they do. (The well-known English expression “save face” was, after all, derived from a Chinese expression.)

Speaking of defences, one outstanding set of proud Chinese cultural traditions that serves as a highly effective fortification blocking the way to potential Mandarin-speaking sheep is the Great Wall of Chinese characters. This inhumanly complex system imposes extraordinary costs in the time and effort required for the simple, everyday tasks of reading and writing Chinese languages like Mandarin.

The Great Wall of China

Chinese characters even put unnecessarily heavy mental loads on native speakers, causing even them to sometimes be unable to remember how to read or write even certain common characters. Unsurprisingly, then, this delightful ball and chain made of human tradition is especially highly effective at making things difficult for any whom Jehovah raises up from other language fields to work in the Mandarin field, poor unfortunate souls who have not already been learning characters all their lives.

We have observed that only about one in ten of such ones is able to cope well with the unnecessary difficulties imposed by characters. The rest struggle along at greatly reduced spiritual combat effectiveness, and the Great Wall of characters even ends up completely filtering out many who try to serve in the Mandarin field, causing them to eventually leave it and become Mandarin field casualties, as viewed by Jehovah’s side.

Satan: How about these efforts by some in Jehovah’s organization to get through and around the Great Wall of characters by making and using Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) resources? It seems that Jehovah’s organization now uses Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) more than any other organization on earth.

Demon: That may be so, but overall, the Great Wall of characters is holding. The traditions around Chinese characters are among the most deeply entrenched human cultural traditions in existence. So, Chinese characters remain the entrenched default writing system for Mandarin-speakers worldwide, and, as you know, the vast majority of humans simply accept the default systems that are presented to them, and don’t bother to think about how it could be worthwhile to find better ways of doing things. This works out great for us when people just unthinkingly adopt the religion of their parents or the morals of their peers, and it works great for us when it comes to the Great Wall of characters too.

As a result, even though Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) works fine as a simple and easy-to-use full writing system for Mandarin, and even though some in Jehovah’s organization have made extraordinary progress in making advantageous use of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) remains a cultural outlier, and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) users continue to be ridiculed and pressured by the great majority whom we have successfully brainwashed regarding characters. Pride, tradition, and peer pressure continue to be highly effective spiritual weapons of mass destruction for us in the Mandarin field, as they are in other fronts of the spiritual war.

Satan: Excellent. There will always be pesky upstarts among Jehovah’s people who challenge the human traditions that serve us so gloriously well, and Jehovah may even help them, but it deeply satisfies my great unholy anger to see that we are keeping them suppressed so effectively. Carry on.

***

Don’t like seeing Satan’s spiritual war plans working out in the Mandarin field? Then fight back with spirit and truth and reject obstructive human traditions that make it much harder than necessary to serve God in the Mandarin field, “so that we may not be overreached by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs.”—John 4:23, 24; 2 Corinthians 2:11.

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Culture Current Events Theocratic

jiēlián

jiēlián (jiē·lián {coming into contact; coming close [→ [connecting; joining; continuing]]} · {joining; linking; connecting [→ [in succession; one after another; continuously]]} [→ [in a row; in succession; on end | repeatedly]] 接连 接連) ← 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 “Shocking Gun Violence Worldwide—What Does the Bible Say?”. The Mandarin version uses this week’s MEotW, “jiēlián (jiē·lián {coming into contact; coming close [→ [connecting; joining; continuing]]} · {joining; linking; connecting [→ [in succession; one after another; continuously]]} [→ [in a row; in succession; on end | repeatedly]] 接连 接連)” to express how cases of gun violence just seem to keep on occurring.

The First Morpheme About Connecting Connects to…

The “jiē ({come into contact with}; {come close to} [→ [connect; join; put together; continue | take hold of [(the baton next)]; catch | answer (the phone) | meet; welcome | receive | take over; succeed to]] 接)” in “jiēlián (jiē·lián {coming into contact; coming close [→ [connecting; joining; continuing]]} · {joining; linking; connecting [→ [in succession; one after another; continuously]]} [→ [in a row; in succession; on end | repeatedly]] 接连 接連)” seems to have possible basic meanings of “come into contact with”, or “come close to”, and it seems that from these can be derived meanings such as “connecting; joining; continuing”, that seem to apply in “jiēlián (jiē·lián {coming into contact; coming close [→ [connecting; joining; continuing]]} · {joining; linking; connecting [→ [in succession; one after another; continuously]]} [→ [in a row; in succession; on end | repeatedly]] 接连 接連)”.

This “jiē ({come into contact with}; {come close to} [→ [connect; join; put together; continue | take hold of [(the baton next)]; catch | answer (the phone) | meet; welcome | receive | take over; succeed to]] 接)” also appears in many other Mandarin expressions, such as:

  • jiēchù (jiē·chù {come into contact with} · touch; contact [→ [get in touch with; engage with]] 接触 接觸)
  • jiē ({come into contact with} → [answer] 接) diànhuà (diàn·huà electric · {spoken words} → [phone] 电话 電話)
  • jiējìn (jiē·jìn {come close to} · {to be near/close | approach} 接近)
  • jiēshòu (jiē·shòu {come into contact with → [receive]} · receive; accept → [receive; accept] 接受)
  • jiē ({coming into contact with} → [taking hold of] (the baton next) 接) xialai (xia·lai down · {to come} 下来 下來)
  • jiēzhe (jiē·zhe {coming into contact with → [taking hold of] (the baton next)} · being → [next; after that] 接着 接着/著)

    • While conducting meetings, brothers might use this expression or the previous one in relation to the part on the programme that’s coming up next.

…the Next Morpheme About Connecting

The “lián ({linking to; joining; connecting to} [→ [even; including | continuously; in succession; one after another]] 连 連)” in “jiēlián (jiē·lián {coming into contact; coming close [→ [connecting; joining; continuing]]} · {joining; linking; connecting [→ [in succession; one after another; continuously]]} [→ [in a row; in succession; on end | repeatedly]] 接连 接連)” also relates to connecting, with possible basic meanings of “linking to”; “joining”; “connecting to”. One interesting use of this morpheme is that “lián ({linking to; joining; connecting to} → [even] 连 連)…” can mean “even…”.

Some other Mandarin expressions that contain “lián ({linking to; joining; connecting to} [→ [even; including | continuously; in succession; one after another]] 连 連)” are:

  • liánjiē (lián·jiē {linking [to]; joining; connecting [to]} · {coming into contact [with] [→ [connecting; joining; linking [to] | connection; conjunction | link (on a web page) | continuously]]} 连接 連/聯接)

    • Note that this expression uses the same morphemes as “jiēlián (jiē·lián {coming into contact; coming close [→ [connecting; joining; continuing]]} · {joining; linking; connecting [→ [in succession; one after another; continuously]]} [→ [in a row; in succession; on end | repeatedly]] 接连 接連)”, but in reverse order. It does not seem to have the exact same meanings as “jiēlián (jiē·lián {coming into contact; coming close [→ [connecting; joining; continuing]]} · {joining; linking; connecting [→ [in succession; one after another; continuously]]} [→ [in a row; in succession; on end | repeatedly]] 接连 接連)”, however.
    • Perhaps of interest to readers of this web page, this expression can be used to refer to a link on a web page.
  • liánxiě (lián·xiě linking; joining; connecting · write → [join syllables in Pīnyīn, etc. (so they are not separated by a space) | write Chinese characters with linked strokes] 连写 連寫)

    • This is the actual expression used in the official Chinese government rules for Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) orthography, to refer to writing syllables together without a space between them. This expression is used because in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), sometimes there is no space between syllables, and sometimes spaces are used.
      • Unlike Chinese characters, which are written like bricks in the Great Wall with no spaces at all between them, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) uses spaces to divide groupings of syllables into separate words, like English, French, Spanish, etc. do. This is yet another thing that makes Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) much easier to learn and use, compared to characters.
  • liánxù (lián·xù linking; joining; connecting · continuing; {being continuous/successive}; extending; joining [→ [continuous; successive; in a row; running; serial; consecutive]] 连续 連續)

    • liánxù jù ((lián·xù linking · continuing → [serial] 连续 連續) (jù drama 剧 劇) → [TV series; serialized drama])
  • yìlián (yì·lián (with) one · linking; joining; connecting → [in a row; in succession; running] 一连 一連)

    • yìlián‐chuàn ((yì·lián (with) one · linking; joining; connecting → [in a row; in succession; running] 一连 一連)‐(chuàn {stringing together of} 串) → [series/string/chain/succession of])

Usage Examples

Here are a couple of examples of “jiēlián (jiē·lián {coming into contact; coming close [→ [connecting; joining; continuing]]} · {joining; linking; connecting [→ [in succession; one after another; continuously]]} [→ [in a row; in succession; on end | repeatedly]] 接连 接連)” in use, taken from the above-mentioned article:

English:

Shocking Gun Violence Worldwide

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Qiāngjī (Qiāng·jī Gun · Striking → [Shooting] 枪击 槍擊) Àn ({Long, Narrow Tables or Desks} → [Cases] 案) Jiēlián (Jiē·lián {Are Coming into Contact → [Are Continuing]} · {Are Linking} → [Are in Succession] 接连 接連)‐Búduàn (Bú·duàn Not · {Breaking off} → [Continually] 不断 不斷)

English:

Terrible gun violence continues to take a tragic toll on many around the world.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Shìjiè (Shì·jiè {generation → [world]} · extent’s → [world’s] 世界) gèdì (gè·dì various · lands 各地) jiēlián (jiē·lián {coming into contact → [continuing]} · {linking → [one after another]} 接连 接連) fāshēng (fā·shēng {are having issue forth} · {are having come to life} → [are having happen] 发生 發生) chíqiāng (chí·qiāng holding · gun 持枪 持槍) bàolì (bào·lì violent · force → [violence] 暴力) shìjiàn (shì·jiàn incidents · [mw] 事件), niàngchéng (niàng·chéng {brewing to → [leading to]} · {coming to be} → [leading to] 酿成 釀成) shāngwáng (shāng·wáng injuries · {dyings → [deaths]} 伤亡 傷亡) cǎnjù (cǎn·jù tragic · {theatrical works (dramas, etc.)} → [tragedies] 惨剧 慘劇).

All Connected?

Speaking of connected things, are all these cases of gun violence somehow connected? Well, the Bible does reveal to us that this whole system of things is under the influence of Satan the Devil, the “ruler of this world” (John 12:31; 1 John 5:19). Those who perpetrate gun violence certainly reflect the spirit of the ruler of this world that they are part of.

Also, the Bible shows us that this world ruled by Satan is now in its last days, and so, things are especially bad now. As the above-mentioned article says:

The Bible describes our time as “the last days,” a time when people would act in fierce, brutal, and savage ways. (2 Timothy 3:1, 3)

Thankfully, since these are “the last days” of this wicked system of things, we can look forward to the time when Jehovah God replaces it with a new system under the rulership of his own Kingdom government.—Matthew 6:10.