qià‐dào‐hǎochu ((qià just; exactly 恰)‐(dào {[is] having arrived at} 到)‐(hǎo·chu good · places; points [→ [benefits; advantages | gain; profit]] 好处 好處) → [[is] perfect; just right]) 👈🏼 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, the Teaching Toolbox in the JW Library app had recently included the No. 3 2021 issue of Awake! magazine. While it is not currently in the Teaching Toolbox, this question considered in this issue, “Should You Believe in a Creator?”, remains an important one for Mandarin field language learners to pay special attention to. Many of the Mandarin-speaking people in the field especially need help with this matter, because their cultural background tends to cause them to not believe in a Creator. At the same time, though, whether the Creator exists remains the first major question that needs to be settled before they can make real further spiritual progress. Another important factor is that the worldwide Mandarin field continues to be huge, probably the language field with more people in it than any other language field in history.
For us Mandarin field language learners, though, using Mandarin to discuss the question of the Creator’s existence is especially challenging and requires special effort from us, because of the particularly deeply technical concepts and vocabulary involved. And, this is in addition to the usual unusual challenges presented by Chinese characters, the general misinformation and disinformation present in the world about the Chinese languages, etc.
Finely Tuned to Be Just Right
This week’s MEotW, “qià‐dào‐hǎochu ((qià just; exactly 恰)‐(dào {[is] having arrived at} 到)‐(hǎo·chu good · places; points [→ [benefits; advantages | gain; profit]] 好处 好處) → [[is] perfect; just right])”, occurs in the No. 3 2021 issue of Awake! magazine in the fifth and sixth paragraphs of the article “What the Universe Tells Us”:
The universe is fine-tuned to support life. Consider what scientists call the weak force. It keeps our sun burning at a steady rate. If the force were weaker, the sun would never have formed. If it were stronger, the sun would have disappeared long ago.
The weak force is just one of several finely tuned features that we depend on. …
📖 📄 📘 Yǔzhòu (Yǔ·zhòu universe · {all time, past, present, and future} → [universe] 宇宙) zhōng (within 中) de (’s 的) gèzhǒng (gè·zhǒng each · {type of} 各种 各種) lì (force 力) dōu ({each one of them} 都) qià‐dào‐hǎochu ((qià exactly 恰)‐(dào {is having arrived at} 到)‐(hǎo·chu good · place 好处 好處) → [is just right]), suǒyǐ (suǒ·yǐ {that which} · {is the reason} → [thus] 所以) shēngmìng (life 生命) cái ({only then} 才 才/纔) néng ({is able} 能) cúnzài (cún·zài {to exist} · {to be present} 存在). Lái (come 来 來) kànkan (kàn·kan {look at} · {look at} 看看) kēxué‐jiā ((kē·xué {branches of study} · learning → [science] 科学 科學)‐(jiā -ists 家) → [scientists]) suǒ ({that which (they)} 所) shuō ({speak of} 说 說/説) de (’s 的) ruò (weak 弱)‐hélì (hé·lì {pit (of a fruit) → [nuclear]} · force 核力), zhèi (this 这 這) zhǒng ({type of} 种 種/种) lì (force 力) ràng (allows 让 讓) tàiyáng (tài·yáng highest · {positive/active/male principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} → [sun] 太阳 太陽) yǐ (at 以) wěndìng (wěn·dìng steady · set 稳定 穩定) de (’s 的) sùdù (sù·dù {being fast → [speed]} · degree → [rate] 速度) ránshāo (rán·shāo {to be ignited} · {to burn} 燃烧 燃燒). Rúguǒ (Rú·guǒ if · {fruit → [if indeed]} 如果) zhèi (this 这 這) zhǒng ({type of} 种 種/种) lì (force 力) ruò ({was weak} 弱) yìdiǎnr (yì·diǎnr a · bit (more) 一点 一點), tàiyáng (tài·yáng highest · {positive/active/male principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} → [sun] 太阳 太陽) jiù (then 就) wúfǎ (wú·fǎ {would not have had} · way → [would have been unable] 无法 無法) xíngchéng (xíng·chéng {form (n)} · {to come to be} → [to form] 形成); rúguǒ (rú·guǒ if · {fruit → [if indeed]} 如果) zhèi (this 这 這) zhǒng ({type of} 种 種/种) lì (force 力) qiáng ({was strong} 强 強/彊) yìdiǎnr (yì·diǎnr a · bit (more) 一点 一點), tàiyáng (tài·yáng highest · {positive/active/male principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} → [sun] 太阳 太陽) jiù (then 就) huì (would 会 會) ránshāo (rán·shāo ignite · burn 燃烧 燃燒) de (getting 得) tài ({too much} 太) kuài ({to be quick} 快), zǎo ({early on} 早) jiù (then 就) xiāoshī (xiāo·shī {would have disappeared} · {would have been lost} 消失) le ([(at the end of a phrase/sentence) indicates a change] 了).
📖 📄 📘 Ruò (weak 弱)‐hélì (hé·lì {pit (of a fruit) → [nuclear]} · force 核力) qià‐dào‐hǎochu ((qià exactly 恰)‐(dào {is having arrived at} 到)‐(hǎo·chu good · place 好处 好處) → [is just right]), dàn (but 但) tā (it 它) zhǐshì (zhǐ·shì only · is 只是) wéichí (wéi·chí maintaining · {holding → [sustaining]} → [sustaining] 维持 維持) shēngmìng (life 生命) de (’s 的) qízhōng (qí·zhōng them · among 其中) yí (one 一) ge ([mw] 个 個/个) yīnsù (yīn·sù cause · {raw silk → [basic element]} → [factor] 因素). …
In the above examples, “qià‐dào‐hǎochu ((qià just; exactly 恰)‐(dào {[is] having arrived at} 到)‐(hǎo·chu good · places; points [→ [benefits; advantages | gain; profit]] 好处 好處) → [[is] perfect; just right])” is used to correspond with the English expressions “fine-tuned” and “finely tuned”. While much cruder than the exquisite systems found in the natural world, many systems produced by human technology can help us to understand the need for certain factors to be finely tuned before an even moderately complex system can function properly. For example, a phone number that’s off by just one number is a wrong number, and older readers will remember radios that needed to be tuned to a certain frequency before the desired radio station could be heard clearly. Speaking of readers, anyone reading this post first had to follow a link (or manually type in a URL) that had to be coded just right—if the web address requested was not within a narrow margin of error, this post would not have loaded!
Let us, then, remember this week’s MEotW, “qià‐dào‐hǎochu ((qià just; exactly 恰)‐(dào {[is] having arrived at} 到)‐(hǎo·chu good · places; points [→ [benefits; advantages | gain; profit]] 好处 好處) → [[is] perfect; just right])”, so that we can be helped to be able to talk to Mandarin-speaking people about how the universe, the sun, the earth, our own bodies, etc. are tuned to be just right, so that we can live, ponder how we got here, and get to know our Creator.
A Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the No. 3 2021 issue of Awake! magazine, which discusses the question “Should You Believe in a Creator?”, is in the works. For updates on the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resources that are available, keep an eye on this blog, on the Links News blog, and on the related account on the social network of your choice listed on this blog’s Contact page.
