ménwèi (mén·wèi door; gate; entrance · {guarding; defending (person)} 门卫 門衛) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”
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We in the Mandarin field should keep in mind that many Mandarin-speaking people were taught to believe in evolution, and thus tend to not believe in God. 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 they are still considered current publications, and relatively 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. So, it would be good for us to consider some of the expressions used in the Mandarin versions of the Was Life Created? and Origin of Life brochures, which can be so helpful when discussing whether life was created.
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This week’s MEotW, “ménwèi (mén·wèi door; gate; entrance · {guarding; defending (person)} 门卫 門衛)”, occurs starting in the 10th paragraph in the QUESTION 2 section of the Origin of Life brochure, which section is entitled, in English, “Is Any Form of Life Really Simple?”:
Think again of a factory. It might have security guards who monitor the products that enter and leave through the doorways in the factory wall. Similarly, the cell membrane has special protein molecules embedded in it that act like the doors and the security guards.
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The cell membrane has “security guards” that allow only specific substances to pass in or out
Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus):
📖 📄 📘 Qǐng (please 请 請) xiǎngxiang (xiǎng·xiang {think about} · {think about} 想想) gōngchǎng (gōng·chǎng work · factory → [factory] 工厂 工廠) de (’s 的) qíngkuàng (situation 情况 情況). Yǒuxiē (Yǒu·xiē {(there) are having → [(there) are]} · some 有些) gōngchǎng (gōng·chǎng work · factories (that) → [factories (that)] 工厂 工廠) huì (will 会 會) yǒu (have 有) ménwèi (mén·wèi door/entrance · {guarding (persons)} 门卫 門衛) zài (at 在) wéiqiáng (wéi·qiáng enclosing · wall 围墙 圍牆) de (’s 的) rùkǒu (rù·kǒu {to be entered} · {mouths → [openings]} → [entrances] 入口) bǎshǒu (bǎ·shǒu {holding → [guarding]} · guarding → [guarding] 把守), jiānkòng (jiān·kòng supervising · controlling 监控 監控) huòwù (huò·wù product · things’ → [products’] 货物 貨物) jìn (entering 进 進)‐chū ({(and) coming out} 出). Tóngyàng (Tóng·yàng same · {pattern → [way]} 同样 同樣), xìbāo (xì·bāo tiny · womb → [cell] 细胞 細胞)‐mó (membrane 膜) shang (upon 上) xiāngqiànzhe (xiāngqiàn·zhe embedded · {are being} → [are embedded] 镶嵌着 鑲嵌着/著) yìxiē (yì·xiē one · {indefinite number of} → [some] 一些) tèbié (tè·bié special · differentiated → [special] 特别 特別) de (’s 的) dànbái‐zhì ((dàn·bái egg · white → [protein] 蛋白)‐(zhì substance 质 質) → [protein]) fēnzǐ (fēn·zǐ {divided (off)} · {small and hard things} → [molecules] 分子), zhèixiē (zhèi·xiē this · {indefinite number of} → [these] 这些 這些) fēnzǐ (fēn·zǐ {divided (off)} · {small and hard things} → [molecules] 分子) jì (both 既) shì (are 是) mén (doors/entrances 门 門), yě (also 也) shì (are 是) ménwèi (mén·wèi door/entrance · {guarding (persons)} 门卫 門衛).
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📖 📄 📘 Xìbāo (Xì·bāo tiny · womb → [cell] 细胞 細胞)‐mó (membrane 膜) yǒu (has 有) “ménwèi (mén·wèi door/entrance · {guarding (persons)} 门卫 門衛)”, zhǐ (only 只 只/秖/衹/祇) róngxǔ (róng·xǔ {containing → [allowing]} · allowing 容许 容許) mǒuxiē (mǒu·xiē certain · {indefinite number of} → [certain] 某些) tèdìng (tè·dìng specially · set 特定) de (’s 的) wùzhì (wù·zhì matter · substances → [substances] 物质 物質) jìn ({to enter into} 进 進)‐chū ({(or) to come out of} 出) xìbāo (xì·bāo tiny · womb → [cell] 细胞 細胞)
As can be seen from the above, the Mandarin Origin of Life brochure uses “ménwèi (mén·wèi door; gate; entrance · {guarding; defending (person)} 门卫 門衛)” to translate the English expression “security guards”.
Morphemes and Related Expressions
The morpheme “mén (door; gate; entrance; opening 门 門)” in “ménwèi (mén·wèi door; gate; entrance · {guarding; defending (person)} 门卫 門衛)” means “door; gate; entrance”. Other expressions in which it has this meaning include “kāimén (kāi·mén open · door [→ [(of a shop, etc.) open]] 开门 開門)” (“open a door”; “(of a shop, etc.) open”) and “guānmén (guān·mén shut; close · door [→ [(of a shop, etc.) close]] 关门 關/関門)” (“shut/close a door”; “(of a shop, etc.) close”). Of particular interest to us in the Mandarin field, “mén (door; gate; entrance; opening 门 門)” also occurs in “méntú (mén·tú {school of thought} · disciple; follower 门徒 門徒)” (“disciple; follower”), where it means “school of thought”. Another noteworthy use of “mén (door; gate; entrance; opening 门 門)” is in the expression “zhuānmén (zhuān·mén [is] [(in)] special; specialized · {door → [class; category; branch of study | way]} → [[is] special; specialized; customized | specially; for a particular purpose] 专门 專門)” (“special; specialized; customized”), in which it effectively means “class; category; branch of study” or “way”.
The “wèi (defending; guarding; protecting [(person) [→ [security guard]]] 卫 衛/衞)” in “ménwèi (mén·wèi door; gate; entrance · {guarding; defending (person)} 门卫 門衛)” effectively means “guarding/defending person”, from a basic meaning of “defend; guard; protect”. Other Mandarin expressions in which it appears include “bǎowèi (bǎo·wèi protect; defend; safeguard · guard; defend; protect 保卫 保衛/衞)”, “shìwèi (shì·wèi attending; serving · defending; guarding; protecting (person) → [[imperial] military bodyguard] 侍卫 侍衛)”, “shǒuwèi (guard; defend | {guarding; defending (person)} → [bodyguard] 守卫 守衛)”, and “wèishēng (wèi·shēng {defending/guarding/protecting of} · life → [hygiene; sanitation | hygienic] 卫生 衛/衞生)”. Incidentally, the character used to write this “wèi (defending; guarding; protecting [(person) [→ [security guard]]] 卫 衛/衞)” appears in “Dàwèi (David 大卫 大衛)” (“David”), but there it is used for how it sounds.
Security by Serendipity?
Our cells have molecule-sized security guards that help protect their proper functioning! This reminds us that even our simplest cells are highly complex, well-regulated systems. Similarly, a computer system may have security software, input validation code, etc. that seek to keep out malware and other kinds of digital stuff that doesn’t belong, in order to help the computer system keep running properly. Would anyone contend that any piece of security software could have evolved by chance? Let us learn how to reason with Mandarin-speaking people about how our cells and their “security guards” are even less likely to have evolved by chance.
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.
