Tag: Old Translations

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Culture History Science Theocratic

xuè

xuè (blood 血) ← 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.]

A few years back, I wrote up a brief web page listing reasons for producing Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), etc. material for the Imitate (ia) book. Some, especially some who grew up in the West, may have felt that this book is made up of “just stories”, and ones that they were already quite familiar with, at that. However, we must remember that Chinese Bible students may often have a different perspective regarding the Bible accounts that are made to come to life in the Imitate book. As that web page said:

  • Many Chinese people in the world have not been exposed to Bible accounts the way many Westerners have.
  • Also, I have heard that some, perhaps many, Chinese Bible students tend to approach their Bible studies like intellectual exercises for accumulating chōuxiàng (abstract) head knowledge as if for a school exam, rather than as training for their hearts for their own real lives.

Later, the web page touches on how some of the real-world benefits of good storytelling like that found in the Imitate book involve empathy:

  • …
    • The actress Natalie Portman once said, “I love acting. I think it’s the most amazing thing to be able to do. Your job is practicing empathy. You walk down the street imagining every person’s life.”
  • The Imitate book helps build Bible students’ empathy towards Bible characters, which in turn helps Bible students realize that others would feel empathy towards them as well if they imitated these Bible characters—not everyone will just think they’re crazy, like many worldly friends or family members might think.

While even fictional stories can have the benefits described in the links and the quote above, true stories from the Bible can have even greater benefits, including spiritual ones.

Besides the Imitate book, another book from Jehovah’s organization that relates Bible accounts is the Learn From the Bible (lfb) book. The letter from the Governing Body in this book says that, similarly to the Imitate book, the Learn From the Bible book also “brings the Bible accounts to life and captures the feelings of those depicted”, while, unlike the Imitate book, it “tells the story of the human family from creation onward”. While the Learn From the Bible book is especially suitable for children, the letter from the Governing Body in this book says that “it can also be used to help adults who desire to learn more about the Bible”. So, it would be good to consider on this blog some of the expressions used in the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book.

The First Plague

This week’s MEotW, “xuè (blood 血)”, appears in Lesson 19 of the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book, which is entitled “Tóu (Head → [First] 头 頭) Sān (Three 三) Chǎng ([mw for recreational, sports, or other activities] 场 場/塲) Zāiyāng (Calamities → [Plagues] 灾殃 災殃)” (“The First Three Plagues”):

English:

Aaron hit the Nile with his stick, and the river turned into blood.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Yàlún (Aaron 亚伦 亞倫) yòng (used 用) zhàng (stick 杖) jīdǎ ({to hit} 击打 擊打) Níluó (Nile 尼罗 尼羅) Hé (River 河) de (’s 的) shuǐ (water 水), shuǐ (water 水) mǎshàng (mǎ·shàng horse · upon → [immediately] 马上 馬上) jiù (then 就) biànchéngle (biàn·chéng·le changed · {to turn into} · {to completion} 变成了 變成了) xuè (blood 血),

The Ten Plagues that Jehovah brought upon Egypt thus start off with a significant blow to the great Nile River that was vitally important to ancient Egypt. Also, Jehovah thus brought disgrace to Hapi, the god to whom the ancient Egyptians attributed the annual flooding of the Nile River, which provided fertile soil in a desert region.

Related Expressions

Here are some general expressions related to “xuè (blood 血)” that would be good for us Mandarin field language learners to know:

  • xuèròu (xuè·ròu blood · flesh 血肉 血肉)
  • xuèròu (xuè·ròu blood · flesh 血肉 血肉)‐zhī (’s 之)‐qū ({human body} 躯 軀)
  • shūxuè (shū·xuè {transporting of → [transfusing of]} · blood 输血 輸血)
  • xuèzhài (xuè·zhài blood · debt 血债 血債)

Here are some expressions related to blood fractions, as used in Lesson 39 of the Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book (Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus):

  • xuèjiāng (xuè·jiāng blood · {thick liquid → [plasma]} 血浆 血漿)
  • bái (white 白) xìbāo (xì·bāo tiny · wombs → [cells] 细胞 細胞)
  • xuè (blood 血) xiǎobǎn (xiǎo·bǎn small · plates → [platelets] 小板 小板/闆)
  • hóng (red 红 紅) xìbāo (xì·bāo tiny · wombs → [cells] 细胞 細胞)
  • xuèyè (xuè·yè blood · fluid 血液) tíqǔ wù ((tí·qǔ {carried (hanging down from the hand) → [extracted]} · taken → [extracted] 提取) (wù matter → [substances] 物) → [fractions])

    • Note that before, e.g., as used in one of the appendices of the Mandarin “God’s Love” book, the expression for “blood fractions” was “xuèyè (xuè·yè blood · fluid 血液) de (’s 的) wēiliàng chéngfèn ((wēi·liàng tiny · amount 微量) (chéng·fèn completion · components 成分/份) → [fractions])”.

Alternate Pronunciations

An interesting thing to keep in mind about “xuè (blood 血)” is that this “official” pronunciation is often not the one that is used by native Mandarin speakers. Rather, this expression is often pronounced colloquially in one of the following ways:

  • xiě (blood (colloquial pronunciation) 血)
  • xuě (blood (colloquial pronunciation) 血)

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Learn From the Bible book is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Learn From the Bible book 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 Learn From the Bible book will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.

Categories
Culture Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

tiānzhēn

tiānzhēn (tiān·zhēn {(of) heaven → [natural]} · {(following) natural instincts} → [innocent; naive; simple and unaffected | (human) nature] 天真) ← 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.

Only Natural?

This week’s MEotW, “tiānzhēn (tiān·zhēn {(of) heaven → [natural]} · {(following) natural instincts} → [innocent; naive; simple and unaffected | (human) nature] 天真)”, 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 “tiānzhēn (tiān·zhēn {(of) heaven → [natural]} · {(following) natural instincts} → [innocent; naive; simple and unaffected | (human) nature] 天真)”, “tiān ({[(of)] heaven [→ [nature | natural; inborn; innate]]} | {heavenly → [celestial]} | {sky [→ [day | overhead | weather]]} 天)” literally means “heaven”, but it can also have a derived meaning of “natural”, as it seems to in the context of “tiānzhēn (tiān·zhēn {(of) heaven → [natural]} · {(following) natural instincts} → [innocent; naive; simple and unaffected | (human) nature] 天真)”. As for “zhēn (true; real; genuine | truly; really | {natural instincts/character/disposition; nature; inherent quality (literary)} 真)”, these days it’s generally used to mean “true; real; genuine”, but in the context of “tiānzhēn (tiān·zhēn {(of) heaven → [natural]} · {(following) natural instincts} → [innocent; naive; simple and unaffected | (human) nature] 天真)”, it seems to have its literary meaning of “(following) natural instincts”. Taken together then, the morphemes in “tiānzhēn (tiān·zhēn {(of) heaven → [natural]} · {(following) natural instincts} → [innocent; naive; simple and unaffected | (human) nature] 天真)” are used to effectively mean “innocent; naive; simple and unaffected | (human) nature”.

What’s Natural?

Speaking of natural, different people have different views on what is natural, especially in this world of ever-changing technology. I am reminded of this Douglas Adams quote:

I’ve come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:

  1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
  2. Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
  3. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.

As an example, I remember a brother who, a few years ago, felt that exchanging email addresses with brothers and sisters one meets at a convention is ‘not natural’, unlike, say, exchanging mailing addresses or phone numbers. Actually, of course, phones and houses, apartments, PO boxes, etc. don’t exist in nature any more than email inboxes do—these are all just human technologies that came along at different times in history, and thus at different times in people’s lives, causing younger ones to find them natural and older ones to find them unnatural.

If we can maintain balanced, open minds, though, we can eventually get used to new technologies that come along, benefit from them, and perhaps find them useful—and occasionally even invaluable—in Jehovah’s service. A recent outstanding example is that Zoom videoconferencing, a relatively new development at the time, enabled many of us to attend meetings during the recent pandemic when we were stuck at home. Many of us may have found it unnatural at first, but over time, we eventually got used to it, and even came to appreciate the spiritual benefits that it enables in certain situations.

What’s Naive?

Getting back to the matter of being naive, as referred to in the above-mentioned scripture, the Origin of Life brochure quotes this scripture to make the following point:

[Students] need to examine the evidence for evolution and for creation and then decide for themselves which they will believe.

In fact, the Bible warns against blindly believing what others teach.

Supporters of evolution will say that people need to not unthinkingly believe the Bible’s creation account, but at the same time, it would also be naive of people to ‘believe every word’ that evolutionists say.

As Mandarin field language learners, we may have been told certain things by well-meaning Mandarin teachers, who were probably just passing on what they had learned. However, it would be naive to unthinkingly accept everything told to us that ultimately originates in the cultures and traditions of the world of imperfect humans that is under Satan’s influence. Instead, we should educate ourselves about the first principles involved with what it really takes to learn the Mandarin language and to use it in Jehovah’s service in the best way that we can.

What’s New with Py+ Material?

A while ago, I got the feeling that I should shift focus to get to work on producing current-generation Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material for the Was Life Created? brochure, which I had last produced older-style material for several years earlier. The official material for this brochure had also not been changed for several years, with the last Mandarin printing of it being dated 2016-12. However, not long after I had started working on new Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material for this brochure, I noticed that a new printing, dated 2022-12, had been put out for the English version of the Was Life Created? brochure, and then, a new printing, dated 2023-02, appeared in the JW Library app for the Mandarin version of this brochure. Also, the Was Life Created? brochure and the Origin of Life brochure were added to the Teaching Toolbox section in the JW Library app at around this time. It seems that Jehovah had decided that the time had come for renewed focus on these brochures, and it seems that the work of producing Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material for the Was Life Created? brochure is privileged to be part of this renewed focus.

Now, I am happy to be able to report that, after much ongoing effort, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material for the Origin of Life brochure has become available as well. (Links can found below.) Hopefully, this material, along with the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material for the Was Life Created? brochure, will help us to help our Mandarin-speaking Bible students to thoughtfully consider the evidence regarding how life came to exist, rather than just naively accepting what the world tells them about this.

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.

Categories
Culture Theocratic

zuì’è

zuì’è (zuì’·è {crime | sin} · evil 罪恶 罪惡) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

Appendix A2 of the English New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition), entitled “Features of This Revision”, discusses vocabulary changes that have been made in the current revision, words that have been translated differently than before. As noted in various entries in the excellent resource Referenced Theo. Expressions (RTE), Appendix A2 of the current Mandarin version of the New World Translation Bible (nwtsty) correspondingly discusses words that have been translated differently in the current revision of the Mandarin NWT Bible, compared to how they had been translated before.

Since we base what we say in Jehovah’s service on his Word the Bible, the vocabulary used in it—and the way those vocabulary words are translated—should be reflected in how we speak in our ministry, at our meetings, etc. So, it is beneficial for us Mandarin field language learners to be familiar with the latest thinking from the organization on how Bible terms should be translated into Mandarin.

Different “Sins” in Mandarin

As Appendix A2 of the current Mandarin version of the New World Translation Bible (nwtsty) points out, this current version builds on the previous version’s efforts to avoid expressions that could easily be associated with false religious concepts.

One example that it points to is that in scriptures such as Psalm 103:10 (English, Mandarin), “zuì’è (zuì’·è {crime | sin} · evil 罪恶 罪惡)” is now used instead of “zuìniè (zuì·niè {sin | crime} · evil [→ [wrongdoing that brings retribution]] 罪孽)” to correspond with the word “sins” that is used in the English version:

Psalm 103:10 (WOL CHS+Pinyin Parallel Translations)

A Buddhist Concept?

So, what’s the deal with “zuìniè (zuì·niè {sin | crime} · evil [→ [wrongdoing that brings retribution]] 罪孽)”? A dictionary of Chinese Buddhist terms that is available to be installed in the Pleco app contains an entry for “zuìniè (zuì·niè {sin | crime} · evil [→ [wrongdoing that brings retribution]] 罪孽)”, with the following sparse definition:

Sins, crimes.

Pleco’s own built-in dictionary lists “wrongdoing that brings retribution” as one of the definitions of “zuìniè (zuì·niè {sin | crime} · evil [→ [wrongdoing that brings retribution]] 罪孽)”. If that definition is connected to the Buddhist concept of “zuìniè (zuì·niè {sin | crime} · evil [→ [wrongdoing that brings retribution]] 罪孽)”, then presumably the retribution that “zuìniè (zuì·niè {sin | crime} · evil [→ [wrongdoing that brings retribution]] 罪孽)” supposedly brings is supposedly brought about by humans, or by some abstract force of justice, since Buddhists do not believe in a God who is a Person.

Anyway, if the expression “zuìniè (zuì·niè {sin | crime} · evil [→ [wrongdoing that brings retribution]] 罪孽)” makes some people think of some Buddhist concept, instead of, for example, the sins referred to in Psalm 103:10 that Jehovah God—not some abstract, impersonal force—would be justified to deal out punishment for, then that seems like a good reason not to continue to use that particular expression in the Mandarin version of the NWT Bible.