Tag: New World Translation Bible

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gòngtōng

gòngtōng (gòng·tōng shared · {through → [connecting | [in] common]} [→ [applicable to both/all; shared; common; universal]] 共通) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

As part of a series of posts about some common myths about Chinese characters, this post discusses the Universality Myth. So, this week’s MEotW is “gòngtōng (gòng·tōng shared · {through → [connecting | [in] common]} [→ [applicable to both/all; shared; common; universal]] 共通)”, an expression that seems to express well the supposed universality that is the subject of this myth.

In “gòngtōng (gòng·tōng shared · {through → [connecting | [in] common]} [→ [applicable to both/all; shared; common; universal]] 共通)”, “gòng (share | common | together | altogether 共)” means “share | common | together | altogether”. This morpheme also appears in other well-known expressions such as “gòngtóng (gòng·tóng shared · {same | together} 共同)”, “gònghé‐guó ((gòng·hé shared · harmony → [republic] 共和)‐(guó country; nation; state 国 國) → [republic])”, and “Gòngchǎn (Gòng·chǎn {Commonly Possessing} · {Produced (Things) → [Property]} → [Communist] 共产 共產)‐Dǎng (Party 党 黨/党)”.

As for “tōng ({[(going)] through[(out)]; open [to]} [→ [common; general | connecting/communicating [to/with] [→ [logical; coherent]]]] 通)”, it here literally means “through”, and effectively means “connecting” or “in common”. It also appears in well-known expressions such as “gōutōng (gōu·tōng {(through) channel} · {(going) through → [communicating]} → [communicating; communication | linking up] 沟通 溝通)”, “jiāotōng (jiāo·tōng crossing; intersecting; meeting; joining · {(going) through → [connecting; communicating]} → [traffic; communications; transportation] 交通)”, “pǔtōng (pǔ·tōng common; general; universal; widespread · {through(out) → [general; common]} → [ordinary; common; average; general] 普通)”, and “tōngguò (tōng·guò through · passing → [passing through] → [through] 通过 通過)”.

When put together, the morphemes in “gòngtōng (gòng·tōng shared · {through → [connecting | [in] common]} [→ [applicable to both/all; shared; common; universal]] 共通)” can effectively mean “shared; common; universal”, which in itself can generally be good. In fact, in our ministry, we look for “gòngtōng (gòng·tōng shared · {through → [in common]} → [common] 共通) diǎn (points 点 點)” (common ground) with those with whom we speak. How universal, though, are Chinese characters? Are they really more universal than, say, alphabets?

Basis and Beliefs

In the book The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy, linguist and sinologist John DeFrancis writes the following in the chapter entitled “The Universality Myth”:

The Universality Myth is the logical extension of the Ideographic Myth. It is based on the threefold belief that:

1. Chinese characters enable a speaker from Beijing and another from Canton to communicate in writing even though they cannot understand each other’s speech. …
2. Chinese characters make it possible to read today’s newspapers as well as poems written a thousand years ago and philosophical essays written long before Christ. …
3. Chinese characters can function as a universal means of communication among people speaking totally unrelated languages. …

…

Implicitly or explicitly, the statements are meant to contrast Chinese characters with the familiar alphabetic scripts of the West. Chinese characters, it is believed, can do all these things, whereas alphabetic scripts cannot.

In other words, the Universality Myth regarding Chinese characters is that these visible, supposedly ideographic (representing meaning visually, without dependence on speech sounds) symbols of worldly Chinese culture can function across barriers of space, time, and language as universal enablers of communication. That seems amazing, if true. But, is it true? And, is it any more true for Chinese characters than it is for alphabets?

Testing the Relative Universality

DeFrancis goes on to test the Universality Myth by examining what it would take for an illiterate Mandarin speaker and an illiterate Cantonese speaker to learn how to communicate with each other by writing in characters, compared to what it would take for an illiterate French speaker and an illiterate Spanish speaker to learn how to communicate with each other by writing in French (which, as is widely known, is written using the Latin alphabet):

My Chinese colleagues estimate on the basis of their own experience and direct contact with the Chinese educational system that it takes seven to eight years for a Mandarin speaker to learn how to read and write three thousand characters and another year or two for a speaker of Cantonese to reach the same level in Standard Chinese. …My colleagues in French and Spanish estimate it would take the two imagined European illiterates less than half the time to reach a comparable level of proficiency in French.

…The overall picture is clear. It seems incontestable that both Europeans will find it easier to learn to read and write French than it be for either Cantonese or Mandarin speakers to learn to read and write Chinese. If we could add up the combined number of hours needed for the two members of each group to accomplish the same thing, the total would be enormously greater in the case of Chinese written in characters than in the case of French written in an alphabetic script. Even more significant, it would also be enormously greater for Chinese written in characters than for Chinese written in Pinyin. That is to say, it would be much easier for illiterates from Peking and those from Canton, even if the latter remain incapable of speaking Mandarin, to acquire the ability to communicate with each other by learning to read and write Standard Chinese written in Pinyin rather than in characters. Where, then, is the vaunted marvel of tongue-tied Chinese o’er-leaping barriers in speech by communicating with each other by means of those magical Chinese characters?

So, it’s possible for speakers of Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, English, French, Spanish, etc. to learn Chinese characters and use these as a means of communication. However, they could also do this with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)! Also, it would actually be much faster and easier to do this with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) than it would be to do it with the crazy complex characters!

Going Back in Time

What about the claim that characters allow us to still be able to read Chinese writings from long ago? Concerning this, DeFrancis writes:

Apart from learning the characters in their current meanings, Chinese must also learn the frequently different meanings of characters in earlier usage and the definitely different syntactical structures of classical versus contemporary written Chinese. This ability involves considerable training in tasks notorious for their difficulty—tasks that involve mastering differences at least as great as those between current English and the language of Chaucer. Without going into great detail, it should be readily apparent that an illiterate Chinese, regardless of whether he speaks Cantonese or Mandarin, will have a much greater task in learning to read classical Chinese than will an illiterate European, regardless of whether he speaks Spanish or French, in learning to read Latin. In the case of those already literate in current Chinese or French, it is doubtful that Chinese readers would enjoy any advantage over Europeans in respect to the amount of additional effort required to read classical Chinese in contrast to Latin.

So, it would probably be harder for a Chinese person to learn characters and then learn classical Chinese, than it would be for a European person to learn the Latin alphabet, and then learn Latin!

For us Mandarin field language learners specifically, since Jehovah’s organization is continually moving forward with ever broader, deeper, and clearer understandings of various truths, we in contrast seek to use the newest, most up-to-date writings from the organization whenever possible. Even with regard to the Bible itself, first written long ago, we seek, as a rule, to use the most up-to-date translations available. For specific examples in this regard, Appendix A2 (English, Mandarin) of the New World Translation Bible lists ways in which the current version of this Bible has been carefully revised to be more beneficial for modern readers.

It’s worth noting that the Chinese versions of the organization’s publications used to be written only in Chinese characters, but the most recent versions of the organization’s important writings generally have Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) available for them as well now.

Sunk Costs and Future Investments

Of course, those who have already spent years of hard work learning characters wouldn’t have to start that particular long and difficult process from zero (although, tíbǐ (tí·bǐ {carry (hanging down from the hand) → [raise; lift]} · pen; pencil; {writing brush} [→ [start writing; write]] 提笔 提筆)‐wàng (forget 忘)‐zì (character 字) (character amnesia) is real thing that takes constant ongoing effort to ward off). And, if they happen to meet others, even others who don’t speak the same language, who have also already spent years of hard work learning characters, then, yes, they might be able to use characters to imperfectly communicate with these others, to a limited extent—that is indeed one imperfect benefit arising from the massive sunk costs they have incurred in the process of learning characters.

However, those who have not already poured enormous amounts of time and effort into learning characters still have the opportunity to objectively weigh how much time and effort it is reasonable and worthwhile to sink into the characters going forward. As they consider this, they can keep in mind the inescapable reality that, due to the inherent extraordinary complexity of the characters, and due to the way that Jehovah actually designed us humans to use language, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) and other sound-prioritizing writing systems (like Hangul, for those learning Korean) offer much greater ROI (return on investment) than characters do for those considering investing time and effort into learning how to actually communicate with others. Dedicated servants of Jehovah should also keep in mind that the time and energy they have are not theirs alone to spend or waste—their time, energy, etc. actually belong to Jehovah, and should thus be used and invested accordingly.

Anyway, to summarize, the Universality Myth regarding Chinese characters is…BUSTED!

Categories
Culture Experiences History Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

zhǐyǐn

zhǐyǐn (zhǐ·yǐn {(pointing with) finger → [pointing]} · guiding; leading 指引) 👈🏼 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.]

Recently, I came across a video entitled “Margarita Königer: Glad I Chose This Career”. (This Watchtower article briefly discusses Sis. Königer’s experience coming into the truth, and her service up to about 1995. The video, which has a copyright date of 2016, is more up-to-date. In the video, we learn that Sis. Königer began serving as a missionary in 1966, and that she had at that point been a missionary in the Chinese field in Budapest, Hungary for nine years.)

Because of what I have seen and experienced in the Mandarin field for over three decades, what Sis. Königer said starting at about the 5:10 mark of the video really resonates with me:

English:

If you are in the full-time service, I think it’s like you are travelling and Jehovah is directing you.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Wǒmen (Wǒ·men we · [pl] 我们 我們) tóurù (tóu·rù {(if) throw} · {to enter} → [(if) participate in] 投入) quánshí (quán·shí full-·time 全时 全時) fúwù (fú·wù serving · {devoting (of oneself)} → [service] 服务 服務), jiù (then 就) hǎoxiàng (hǎo·xiàng (it) {well → [very much]} · {is like} 好像/象) shì ({(it) is (that)} 是) nǐ (you 你) zài ({are in} → [are now] 在) lǚxíng (travelling 旅行), ér (and 而) Yēhéhuá (Jehovah 耶和华 耶和華) yìzhí (yì·zhí one · {being straight} → [all the while] 一直) zhǐyǐn (zhǐ·yǐn {(is pointing with) finger → [is pointing]} · {is guiding} 指引) nǐ de ((nǐ you 你) (de ’s 的) → [your]) fāngxiàng (fāng·xiàng direction · {to be faced} 方向).

As can be seen above, this week’s MEotW, “zhǐyǐn (zhǐ·yǐn {(pointing with) finger → [pointing]} · guiding; leading 指引)”, is used in the Mandarin version of the above-mentioned video to correspond to the English word “directing”.

I have often felt like a fly on the wall observing Jehovah’s hand at work in the establishment and development of several Mandarin groups and congregations in my local area, and I have also seen much evidence that Jehovah has been directing things in the worldwide Mandarin field.

Photocopies and Handwriting

Specifically with regard to the development of material based on the organization’s official Chinese publications, but that includes Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) or Zhùyīn (Zhù·yīn {Annotating of} · Sounds → [Zhuyin] 注音 註/注音) to help Mandarin field language learners get past the imposing Great Wall of Chinese characters, I saw how things started in the 1980s or 1990s. Somewhere around that time, Chinese congregation elders on the West Coast of North America began directing teams of publishers who would make enlarged photocopies of official Chinese publications, and then painstakingly handwrite Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) or Zhùyīn (Zhù·yīn {Annotating of} · Sounds → [Zhuyin] 注音 註/注音) ruby text between the lines of characters. (In those days, many of the publishers involved were from Taiwan, where they were taught Zhùyīn (Zhù·yīn {Annotating of} · Sounds → [Zhuyin] 注音 註/注音) in school.) Photocopies would then be made of these handwritten “originals”, for distribution to hungry Mandarin field language learners at the local meetings and to be sent via snail mail, etc. to those in other places.

Photocopied and handwritten _Pīnyīn_ material from 1997, based on the book _The Secret of Family Happiness_

Photocopied and handwritten Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) material from 1997, based on the book The Secret of Family Happiness

PCs, Email, and Printers

A few years afterwards, in the early 2000s, I was serving where the need was great in the burgeoning Mandarin field in Calgary, where I was assigned by an unusually pragmatic and open-minded Chinese elder to develop similar Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)-containing material for the local Mandarin field language learners—the brothers in Calgary at the time felt far from the West Coast, and had decided that they would be more comfortable with a local supply of such material.

Starting with a “clean sheet of paper” and using the personal computer technology that had become available and reasonably inexpensive at the time, I designed and started producing what was evidently the first material of the kind that eventually came to be commonly known as 3-line material. When the above-mentioned elder suggested adding English to the material that had up to this point only contained characters and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), I balked at first—it was already going to be so much work just to enter the characters and add the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)! However, I decided to make some prototype material that included English, and when one of the local brothers who was learning Mandarin saw a printout of it, his eyes seemed to pop out of his head, and he practically grabbed the printout out of my hands to get a closer look at it! That helped me to decide that the additional time and work needed for me to add the English translations would be a worthwhile investment that would greatly benefit the multiple people who would use the material to help them learn the Mandarin they need in the Mandarin field.

Whereas the photocopied material mentioned above that was produced starting in the 1980s or 1990s was produced and distributed entirely in the paper realm, this new material was produced in the digital realm in word processing programs, and distributed as digital files (albeit ones still meant to be printed out on paper). Thus, I was able to email the files to whoever asked for them, after I emailed a few acquaintances I had in the nearby Canadian and American Mandarin fields about them.

A screenshot of early 3-line PDF material from 2001, based on the book _Is There a Creator Who Cares About You?_

A screenshot of early 3-line PDF material from 2001, based on the book Is There a Creator Who Cares About You?

And boy, did people start asking for them! Amazingly, people in the Mandarin field began telling their friends and fellow workers about the files, and I began to get emails from all around the world—from every continent except Antarctica—requesting them. I remember getting a bit emotional after getting an email from the UK requesting the files and telling me about the growing Chinese fields there—it felt like finding out about a part of your family that before, you had no idea existed. I also remember feeling amazed and doing a double take after seeing that I had gotten an email from someone in the Chinese group in Budapest, Hungary, where the above-mentioned Sis. Königer later served for a long time.

For those who weren’t around then, let me provide a bit more background information about the situation in the worldwide Mandarin field at the time, to help put this enthusiastic worldwide response in perspective. At the time, jw.org was still many years away from coming online and becoming a place on the web where one could just go and view or download abundant material based on official publications and containing Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音). This was also before the iPhone came out in 2007, before Android was introduced in 2008, and before the iPad came out in 2010. What many people in the worldwide Mandarin field did have at that time, though, were personal computers (PCs and Macs), email, printers, and an organizationally existentially urgent situation caused by the frustratingly complex and difficult-to-learn-and-remember Chinese characters, which can take years, even decades, for a language learner to get functionally proficient with.

Pinyin Material or Bust

Many of the Mandarin pregroups, groups, and congregations around the world at that time were quite new, with zero or very few publishers who were native Mandarin-speakers, and thus zero or very few people, especially brothers, who could function effectively in the Mandarin field with publications that contained only Chinese characters. So, they really, really needed material like that early 3-line material. Especially for many Mandarin pregroups and groups around the world at that time, getting the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)-containing material or not literally meant the difference between being able to conduct their Mandarin meetings or not being able to do so.

And so, email requests came pouring in from around the world for the early 3-line unofficial material that I was producing, with only a few occasional helpers, in my little rented basement suite in a territory far from the home where I grew up. That was a hard time to go through—the material, while no longer having to be painstakingly handwritten, still took a lot of time and effort to produce, week after week, and many of those around me did not understand or appreciate this highly unusual, pressure-filled, high-stakes situation that I found myself in. During that time, I learned and lived the Mandarin saying “qí ({(if one) rides} 骑 騎)‐hǔ (tiger 虎)‐nán ({(it) is difficult} 难 難)‐xià ({to get down} 下)”. However, like Sis. Königer said, ultimately I could feel Jehovah directing things and helping me through it all.

3lines.org and Official Pinyin Resources

After about two and a half years in Calgary, difficulty in finding secular work caused me to move back to the city I grew up in, where, on reflection, the project in Calgary that produced that early 3-line material would probably never have gotten going, due to the relatively complacent—and, perhaps, proud—acceptance of the status quo among those in the local Mandarin field, which by then had become relatively well-established. (Actually, on reflection, the development and distribution of unofficial and official Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)-containing material for the Mandarin field seems, as a whole, like what in physical warfare is known as a flanking manoeuvre, as opposed to a conventional frontal assault on the status quo of the world’s Mandarin language situation that we Mandarin field language learners must deal with, i.e., just having everyone learn Mandarin the traditional hard way.) Eventually, I was invited to work with the international team of publishers that ran the 3lines.org website, and that began producing 3-line material on an industrial scale.

Meanwhile, on the official side of things, the organization eventually started to produce official printed Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) versions of a few selected publications. These contained Simplified Chinese characters with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) ruby text—no English. (I suppose the official team[s] involved decided that it was not worthwhile to include English translations, due to the tremendous additional ongoing investments in time, effort, and contributed funds that would be required to produce them on an ongoing basis to the quality level required of official material, which after all is primarily spiritual food, not language-learning material.)

Being printed on paper, though, these official Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) publications had to be physically printed and trucked/moved by rail/flown/literally shipped/etc. to the various Mandarin pregroups, groups, and congregations around the world that needed them. Generally these shipments would arrive in time for them to be used at the meetings in which they were scheduled to be used, but unfortunately, in spite of the best efforts of those involved, sometimes they would not—that was just the challenging nature at the time of producing and distributing paper publications on an ongoing tight schedule.

Over time, the organization got better at producing and delivering paper Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) publications on time, and it also eventually began to make digital Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)-containing material widely available for viewing on the web and downloading. Thanks to reader SB, here is some information on when these official resources became available:

Official Pinyin Watchtower started in 2002.
Other dates: jw.org with PDFs was 2010, WOL was 2012…, WOL expanded to pre-2000 publications in 2018
(English in April, Trad. Chinese in August, Simplified in November)
and official pinyin added in 2019. Official pinyin then came
to the JW Library app in 2024.

These developments, along with the collective Brobdingnagian efforts of others on the 3lines.org team, helped a lot to provide numerous powerfully enabling resources for Mandarin field language learners. Meanwhile, there continued to be a lot of work for me to do in this regard as well.

Mobile Devices, the Web, and Linguistics

In the early-2010s, with the post-PC mobile revolution in full swing after the iPad was introduced and became “the most quickly adopted non-phone electronic product” ever, I found myself working on my iPhone/iPad app Pinyin Typist, and doing deep research on Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), Chinese characters, and writing systems and linguistics in general. After all that I had gone through trying to learn characters and trying to help others to deal with the difficulties caused by characters, when I figured out from my research that actually, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is a good, workable writing system on its own for Mandarin, and that characters are thus not a technical necessity, but rather, just an unusually deeply rooted cultural tradition, that was a mind-blowing moment for me.

To share the potentially game-changing things I had learned with my fellow Mandarin field language learners, I eventually wrote and posted articles including “Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Was Plan A”, which it seems many in the Mandarin field have read and benefitted from. Also, I eventually took the learnings from my experience in the Mandarin field and from my research into linguistics and into web and mobile technologies and began producing Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material. This new generation of mobile-first, speech-first material works well on the mobile devices so prevalent now among Mandarin field language learners. Also, rather than going along with the common practice in Satan’s world of diverting Mandarin learners into the deep, dark rabbit hole that is the Chinese characters, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material focuses on helping Mandarin field language learners to learn to speak understandably and persuasively in Mandarin so that they can reach the hearts of Mandarin-speaking people with Bible truth.—1 Corinthians 14:8–11.

After a few years, in the late 2010s, as the official Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)-containing resources became established, the unofficial team of publishers running 3lines.org was directed by the organization to fundamentally change their unofficial operation, resulting in that website scaling down drastically. However, even though I know the organization is aware of my activities—outside of 3lines.org—producing materials for Mandarin field language learners, I have not received any similar direction from it. So, I have continued doing what I can to provide resources for Mandarin field language learners, including several Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resources based on official publications (with deeply researched and extensive disclaimers about them not being spiritual food, but rather, Mandarin field language-learning resources), and this MEotW blog that you are now reading.

“It’s Like You Are Travelling and Jehovah Is Directing You”

Looking back now in 2025, it is evident that in spite of temporarily limited technology and the ongoing traditional cultural inertia and disdainful dismissiveness of those brainwashed by a world that glamourizes and practically idolizes Chinese characters, abundant official (and unofficial) Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)-containing resources have become widely and easily available to Mandarin field language learners around the world. Besides those already mentioned above, other significant Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)-containing Mandarin field resources that many have found helpful include theocratic Mandarin courses, such as that included in the official JW Language app, and also the various resources mentioned on the Referenced Theo. Expressions (RTE) website, such as the phonetic WOL apps. The Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)-containing resources that are available for Mandarin field language learners help them to be able to powerfully and effectively glorify Jehovah and save lives in the vast worldwide Mandarin field, without being egregiously obstructed by burdensome unnecessary difficulties imposed by the human traditions surrounding Chinese characters.

Interestingly, in this regard, in the above-mentioned video (© 2016), starting at about the 4:35 mark, while describing her experience in the Mandarin field in Budapest, Hungary, Sis. Königer can be seen using one of the old, bulky but beloved printed Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) New World Translation Bibles:

Screenshot showing part of a _Pīnyīn_ NWT Bible used by Sis. Margarita Königer

Screenshot of Sis. Margarita Königer using a _Pīnyīn_ NWT Bible

Also, starting at about the 4:43 mark, she and others can be seen using the old printed Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Sing to Jehovah songbook, which included musical notation:

Screenshot of Sis. Margarita Königer and others using _Pīnyīn_ _Sing to Jehovah_ songbooks with musical notation

Yes, in view of what I have witnessed and experienced in the Mandarin field, I heartily agree with Sis. Königer’s conclusion that she states starting at about the above video’s 5:10 mark, that ultimately, Jehovah directs the work of his faithful servants:

If you are in the full-time service, I think it’s like you are travelling and Jehovah is directing you. So I don’t worry. The responsibility is with Jehovah. I mean, we have to be faithful. That is our responsibility. But, what is happening is: Jehovah knows what he lets happen. It’s OK. And I hope everybody who is young, they will do the same because they will miss something, because it’s very satisfying. And working with Jehovah, you cannot compare it to anything else.

Categories
Culture Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

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)

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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?