Tag: jw.org

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Yēsū Xīshēng Jìniàn Jùhuì

Yēsū (Jesus’ 耶稣 耶穌)
Xīshēng (Xī·shēng {Sacrifice (n)} · {(as with a) Domestic Animal} → [Sacrifice] 牺牲 犧牲)
Jìniàn Jùhuì ((Jì·niàn Remembering · {Thinking Of} → [Commemorating] 记/纪念 記/紀念) (Jùhuì Meeting 聚会 聚會) → [Memorial]) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

This year’s Memorial is scheduled for this week, so this week’s MEotW is “Yēsū (Jesus’ 耶稣 耶穌) Xīshēng (Xī·shēng {Sacrifice (n)} · {(as with a) Domestic Animal} → [Sacrifice] 牺牲 犧牲) Jìniàn Jùhuì ((Jì·niàn Remembering · {Thinking Of} → [Commemorating] 记/纪念 記/紀念) (Jùhuì Meeting 聚会 聚會) → [Memorial])”. This is currently the official way to translate “the Memorial of Jesus’ death” into Mandarin, as can be seen by comparing the English and Mandarin pages for the Memorial on jw.org.

It’s worth noting that this is a simple, straightforward, functional translation, free of unnecessary sentimentality or ceremony. As one dictionary puts it, “ceremony”, in this case, refers to:

The formalities observed on some solemn or important public or state occasion in order to render it more imposing or impressive: as, the ceremony of crowning a king, or of laying a foundation-stone; the ceremony of inaugurating the President of the United States.

Indeed, for those of us who appreciate Jesus’ ransom sacrifice, the Memorial is about this appreciation, not about ceremony or empty or showy rituals.

What Price Ceremony?

The matter of unnecessary ceremony reminds me of something I heard in a podcast a while ago:

Here is a clip of the podcast referred to in the tweet above, in which Mr. Cohen speaks of the core goal to make Swift ceremony-free:

As the above tweet also mentions, Chinese characters have oodles and gobs of unnecessary, time-and-energy-consuming ceremony, especially compared to the simple, straightforward, and elegant Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) writing system. And, echoing Mr. Cohen’s observation that ceremony can weigh programmers down and rob them of the joy that they could otherwise feel when coding, many have found that the unnecessary, traditionally mandated complexity and ceremonial baggage of Chinese characters can weigh down Mandarin learners and take away much of the joy that they should be able to feel from learning how to really communicate with Mandarin-speaking people.

Is it appropriate for us to look at the Chinese characters writing system through the same lens that we use to look at a technological system like the Swift programming language? It really is, because while the Chinese characters writing system is indeed a matter of culture, all writing systems are simultaneously technologies, applications of skills and knowledge for practical purposes.

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Current Events History

bìnàn suǒ

bìnàn suǒ ((bì·nàn {avoiding; evading → [preventing; keeping away from; fleeing; escaping; hiding from]} · calamity; disaster; adversity; misfortune; trouble; distress → [taking refuge; seeking asylum] 避难 避難) (suǒ place 所) → [refuge; asylum; sanctuary; haven; shelter]) ← 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 a breaking news item regarding the recent shooting at a Kingdom Hall in Hamburg, Germany. The Mandarin version of this makes use of this week’s MEotW, “bìnàn suǒ ((bì·nàn {avoiding; evading → [preventing; keeping away from; fleeing; escaping; hiding from]} · calamity; disaster; adversity; misfortune; trouble; distress → [taking refuge; seeking asylum] 避难 避難) (suǒ place 所) → [refuge; asylum; sanctuary; haven; shelter])”, which means “refuge”.

Related Expressions

Some other Mandarin expressions that use the morphemes in “bìnàn suǒ ((bì·nàn {avoiding; evading → [preventing; keeping away from; fleeing; escaping; hiding from]} · calamity; disaster; adversity; misfortune; trouble; distress → [taking refuge; seeking asylum] 避难 避難) (suǒ place 所) → [refuge; asylum; sanctuary; haven; shelter])” (or related ones) are:

  • bìmiǎn (bì·miǎn {avoid; evade [→ [prevent; keep away from; flee; escape; hide from]]} · avoid; {refrain from} 避免)
  • kǔnàn (kǔ·nàn {being bitter → [hardship; suffering; pain]} · calamities; adversity; trouble; distress 苦难 苦難)
  • nán ({[is] difficult}; {[is] hard} | difficultly | {make difficult/difficulties} 难 難)
  • nántí (nán·tí difficult · topic → [problem] 难题 難題)
  • bìhù suǒ ((bì·hù sheltering; protecting; shielding · protecting; guarding; shielding 庇护 庇護) (suǒ place 所) → [sanctuary; asylum; haven; refuge])
  • Wángguó (Wáng·guó King’s · Nation → [Kingdom] 王国 王國) Jùhuì Suǒ ((Jùhuì Meeting 聚会 聚會) (Suǒ Place 所) → [Hall])

Usage in a Scripture

The above-mentioned news item cites Psalm 9:9 (Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) WOL; Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus), which uses “bìnàn suǒ ((bì·nàn {avoiding; evading → [preventing; keeping away from; fleeing; escaping; hiding from]} · calamity; disaster; adversity; misfortune; trouble; distress → [taking refuge; seeking asylum] 避难 避難) (suǒ place 所) → [refuge; asylum; sanctuary; haven; shelter])”:

📖 📄 📘 Yēhéhuá (Jehovah 耶和华 耶和華) huì (will 会 會) bìhù (bì·hù shelter · protect 庇护 庇護) bèi ([passive signifier] → [being] 被) yāpò (yā·pò pressed · coerced → [oppressed] 压迫 壓迫) de (’s 的) rén (persons 人), zuò (become 做) tāmen de ((tā·men him/her · [pl] → [them] 他们 他們) (de ’s 的) → [their]) bìnàn suǒ ((bì·nàn {avoiding → [keeping away from]} · distress → [taking refuge] 避难 避難) (suǒ place 所) → [refuge]);
Tāmen (Tā·men he/she · [pl] → [they] 他们 他們) zāoshòu (zāo·shòu encounter · {receive → [suffer]} 遭受) kǔnàn (kǔ·nàn {being bitter → [hardship]} · distress 苦难 苦難) shí ({(particular) times} 时 時),
Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝) jiùshì (jiù·shì exactly · {will be} 就是) tāmen de ((tā·men him/her · [pl] → [them] 他们 他們) (de ’s 的) → [their]) bìnàn suǒ ((bì·nàn {avoiding → [keeping away from]} · distress → [taking refuge] 避难 避難) (suǒ place 所) → [refuge]).

Remember Job

As students of the Bible, we have come to understand that, just as it was in Job’s time, now, the last days of this old system of things, is not a time when Jehovah is physically protecting his people from all bad things. However, we can still turn to him for mental, emotional, and spiritual refuge, as Job could. Also, we know that, as in Job’s case, even the physical effects of the bad things that happen now will eventually be undone by Jehovah, when the time is right.—Job 1:7–22; 42:12–17; Revelation 20:12, 13.

Categories
Culture Current Events History

zhōunián

zhōunián (zhōu·nián {circle → [whole; cycle] of} · year → [anniversary] 周年 周/週年) ← 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.]

February 24, 2023, a few days before the date of this post, was the one year anniversary of Russia’s sending of significant military forces into Ukraine, resulting in the largest scale open warfare in Europe since World War II. So, as of this writing jw.org is featuring the article “Ukraine War Enters Second Year—What Hope Does the Bible Offer?”, and this week’s MEotW is “zhōunián (zhōu·nián {circle → [whole; cycle] of} · year → [anniversary] 周年 周/週年)”, the Mandarin word used in the Mandarin version of that article to translate the sense of “anniversary”.

Circles

“Zhōunián (Zhōu·nián {circle → [whole; cycle] of} · year → [anniversary] 周年 周/週年)” literally means “circle (or whole; cycle) of a year”, and can be thought of as a year having gone full circle. Another use of the “zhōu (circumference; circle; ring; periphery [→ [whole; cycle] [→ [week]]] | {to circle; to make a circuit} 周 周/週)” in “zhōunián (zhōu·nián {circle → [whole; cycle] of} · year → [anniversary] 周年 周/週年)”, that also involves circles/cycles and time, is to mean “week”. Extending from that, “Zhōu’èr (Zhōu’·èr {Circle → [Cycle] → [Week(day)]} · Two → [Tuesday] 周二 周/週二)” means “Week(day) Two”, or “Tuesday”.

Note, though, that in this pattern, “Sunday” is not “Zhōuqī (Zhōu·qī {Circle → [Week(day)]} · Seven → [not used to mean “Sunday”] 周七 周/週七)”, but rather, “Zhōurì (Zhōu·rì {Circle → [Cycle] → [Week]} · {Sun → [Day]} → [Sunday] 周日 周/週日)”. Note also that regarding “Zhōurì (Zhōu·rì {Circle → [Cycle] → [Week]} · {Sun → [Day]} → [Sunday | weekday] 周日 周/週日)”, the excellent resource Referenced Theo. Expressions (RTE) says:

weekday; Sunday; Apparently 周日 can mean either “weekday” or “Sunday”; it was used in w07 7/1 p.17 to mean “Sunday” (周六和周日 “Saturday and Sunday”; the Traditional version of wtl07 uses the variant 週 for 周) but in w95 7/15 p.29 and w93 11/1 p.31 it was used to translate “weekday” (i.e. non-Sabbath day in Israel), and g02 4/8 p.7 (5/8 in zh) uses 在周日 to translate “during the workweek”.

In addition to “Zhōurì (Zhōu·rì {Circle → [Cycle] → [Week]} · {Sun → [Day]} → [Sunday] 周日 周/週日)”, Mandarin dictionaries also list several other ways to say “Sunday”, some of which originated from Catholicism.

Not Regular Joes

The “zhōu (circumference; circle; ring; periphery [→ [whole; cycle] [→ [week]]] | {to circle; to make a circuit} 周 周/週)” in “zhōunián (zhōu·nián {circle → [whole; cycle] of} · year → [anniversary] 周年 周/週年)” is also used as a surname. For example, for hundreds of years, China was ruled by the Zhōu ({Circumference; Circle (surname)} 周 周/週) dynasty.

A famous Zhōu ({Circumference; Circle (surname)} 周 周/週) of more recent times was Zhōu Ēnlái ((Zhōu {Circumference; Circle (surname)} 周 周/週) (Ēn·lái Kindness · Comes 恩来 恩來) (the first Premier of the People’s Republic of China)) (Wikipedia article), the first Premier of the People’s Republic of China, who served from October 1, 1949 until his death on January 8, 1976. An English translation of an interesting speech he gave in 1958 regarding some of the tasks that the PRC government faced relating to reforming the written language—such as simplification of the characters, popularization of pǔtōnghuà (pǔ·tōng·huà common; universal · {through(out) → [common]} · speech → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in China)] 普通话 普通話), and the creation and implementation of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)—can be found here, on the Pīnyīn.info website.

Usage Examples

In the above-mentioned jw.org Mandarin article, “zhōunián (zhōu·nián {circle → [whole; cycle] of} · year → [anniversary] 周年 周/週年)” is used as follows:

📖 📄 📘 2023 Nián (Year 年 年/秊) 2 Yuè (Moon → [Month] 月) 24 Rì (Sun → [Day] 日) Xīngqīwǔ (Xīng·qī·wǔ {Star · {Period of Time} → [Week (Day)]} · Five → [Friday] 星期五) shì (is 是) yí (one 一) ge ([mw] 个 個/个) cǎndàn (cǎn·dàn tragic · tasteless → [dismal] 惨淡 慘淡/澹) de (’s 的) rìzi (rì·zi {sun → [day]} · [suf for nouns] 日子), biāozhìzhe (biāo·zhì·zhe {marking (with)} · mark (that) · being → [marking that] 标志着 標志/誌/識着/著) Wūkèlán (Ukraine 乌克兰 烏克蘭) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war] 战争 戰爭) mǎn ({had filled} 满 滿) yì (one 一) zhōunián (zhōu·nián {circle → [cycle] of} · year → [anniversary] 周年 周/週年).

The Pleco app’s built-in dictionary provides these usage examples:

wǔshí zhōunián jìniàn ((wǔ·shí five · tens → [fifty] 五十) (zhōu·nián {circle → [cycle] of} · year → [anniversary] 周年 周/週年) (jì·niàn remembering · {thinking of} → [commemoration] 记/纪念 記/紀念) → [golden jubilee])

yìbǎi zhōunián ((yì·bǎi one · hundred 一百) (zhōu·nián {circle → [cycle] of} · year → [anniversary] 周年 周/週年) → [centenary])

Will There Be Another Anniversary?

For now, it seems uncertain how much longer Russia and Ukraine will continue to battle for. While many experts, including some Western experts, initially expected Russia might succeed in its initial plan to topple the Ukraine government in a few days, Ukraine has succeeded in holding out, and, with much Western support, has even conducted some successful counteroffensives in the last year. Russia continues to have significant combat power, however, and seems intent on continuing to pursue its goals in this war. Recently, the director of the CIA said the USA believes that China is considering providing lethal aid to Russia, perhaps in the forms of drones and ammunition. Meanwhile, Ukraine remains intent on completely driving out the Russian invaders, and many nations, including many Western nations, continue to provide it with ever more significant military support, now including advanced Western main battle tanks.

Regardless of how long this war may drag on, may we keep our brothers and sisters in the affected areas in our prayers to Jehovah, the only true God and the “God of all comfort”—John 17:3, 2 Corinthians 1:3.