Tag: Rudyard Kipling

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wāku

wāku (wā·ku {dig; gouge [→ [scratch]]} · {to be bitter → [to be causing suffering]} → [speak sarcastically/ironically; make cutting remarks] 挖苦) ← 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 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. 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.

“Not the Purpose of This Material”

This week’s MEotW, which appears in the section of the Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure entitled “Nǐ (You 你) Xiāngxìn (Xiāng·xìn It · {Do Believe} → [Do Believe] 相信) Shénme (Shén·me What · [suf] 什么 什/甚麼) Ne ([? ptcl] 呢)?” (“What Do You Believe?”), is “wāku (wā·ku {dig; gouge [→ [scratch]]} · {to be bitter → [to be causing suffering]} → [speak sarcastically/ironically; make cutting remarks] 挖苦)”:

English:

It is not the purpose of this material to ridicule the views either of fundamentalists or of those who choose not to believe in God.

Mandarin (WOL; Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus)

📖 📄 📘 Wǒmen (wǒ·men we · [pl] 我们 我們) chūbǎn (chū·bǎn {have put out} · {printing block of → [edition of]} → [have published] 出版) zhèi (this 这 這) běn ({root or stem of a} → [mw for books, etc.] 本) cèzi (cè·zi brochure · [suf for nouns] 册子 冊子), bìng (actually 并 並/竝/并) bú (not 不) shì (are 是) yào (wanting 要) wāku (wā·ku {to gouge → [to scratch]} · {to be bitter → [to be causing suffering to]} → [to speak sarcastically about] 挖苦) yǐshàng (yǐ·shàng at · above’s 以上) àn ({in accordance with} 按) zìmiàn (zì·miàn characters’ · {face → [surface]} → [being literal] 字面) lǐjiě (lǐ·jiě {(with) reason} · {untie → [solve]} → [understand] 理解) Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) de (’s 的) rén (persons 人), yě (also 也) bú (not 不) shì (are 是) yào (wanting 要) jīqiào (jī·qiào {to ridicule} · {to criticize} 讥诮 譏誚) bú (not 不) xìn ({do believe in} 信) Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝) de (’s 的) rén (persons 人).

As can be seen from the above quotes, the Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure uses “wāku (wā·ku {dig; gouge [→ [scratch]]} · {to be bitter → [to be causing suffering]} → [speak sarcastically/ironically; make cutting remarks] 挖苦)” (along with “jīqiào (jī·qiào ridicule; mock; satirize · reproach; blame; criticize 讥诮 譏誚)”) to correspond with “ridicule”.

Don’t Dig a Hole for Yourself

The “wā (dig; excavate; {scoop out}; gouge [→ [scratch]] 挖)” in “wāku (wā·ku {dig; gouge [→ [scratch]]} · {to be bitter → [to be causing suffering]} → [speak sarcastically/ironically; make cutting remarks] 挖苦)” can literally mean “dig”, “excavate”, or “gouge”, and can effectively mean “scratch”. This morpheme also appears in the expression “wājué (wā·jué dig; excavate · dig 挖掘)”, which is used in the “SHĒNRÙ (SHĒN·RÙ DEEPLY · {GOING IN} 深入) WĀJUÉ (WĀ·JUÉ EXCAVATE · DIG 挖掘)” (“DIG DEEPER”) headings in the Enjoy Life Forever! book.

As for “kǔ (bitter | {being bitter → [hardship; suffering; pain | painstakingly]} 苦)”, this expression literally means “bitter”, and it can also be used to effectively mean “pain” or “suffering”, as it does in “shòukǔ (shòu·kǔ receive · {being bitter → [hardship; suffering; pain]} 受苦)”.

So, the morphemes in “wāku (wā·ku {dig; gouge [→ [scratch]]} · {to be bitter → [to be causing suffering]} → [speak sarcastically/ironically; make cutting remarks] 挖苦)” come together to, on a certain level of literalness, mean something like “gouge or scratch to the point of bitterness”, and to effectively mean “speak sarcastically/ironically about; make cutting remarks about”.

It may be tempting to ridicule or be sarcastic towards those who have not yet studied and accepted the information from God’s organization about evolution and creation as we have, especially if we happen to be able to relatively quickly or easily see how illogical and erroneous their viewpoints are. However, our doing so may contribute to escalating discussions in negative directions. It’s true that we should bear witness to the truth like Jesus did, and that Jesus at times spoke quite forcefully and condemned those who opposed him, but he could be far more certain than we can be about what’s really in people’s hearts, and also, his position and authority are not the same as ours.—John 18:37.

“East is East, and West is West”

In the Mandarin field, we should also especially keep in mind the backgrounds of those we speak to. Many of these Mandarin-speakers grew up and were educated in a society that is in some ways even more materialistic and atheistic than modern Western society. While many in the West have at least heard of and thought of the Bible and its teachings and accounts, many Mandarin-speakers may not even have gotten that far with regard to Bible knowledge. To many of them, the Bible’s accounts are not only myths and stories, they are other people’s myths and stories.

So, let us seek to follow the example of the Was Life Created? brochure by trying our best to avoid either purposefully or inadvertantly ‘gouging to the point of bitterness’ as we seek to present to Mandarin-speakers information about the Bible’s account of creation.

For convenience:

The direct link for the current generation Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Was Life Created? brochure is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Was Life Created? 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 Was Life Created? 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 Current Events Language Learning Science

Dōng‐Xī

Dōng (East 东 東)‐Xī (West 西) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

The MEotW post on “hūxī (hū·xī {breathing out}; exhaling · {breathing in}; inhaling → [breathing] 呼吸)”, from about a year ago, includes the following passage:

Rudyard Kipling’s poem “The Ballad of East and West” begins with these lines:

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!

The first line quoted above is often referred to in order to emphasize how the gap between East and West can seem insurmountable. (By the way, “twain” is an archaic term for “two”. So, “never the twain shall meet” means “never the two shall meet”.) However, there is more to the poem.

The other lines quoted above express that individuals who are spiritually strong enough to do so can overcome any differences in culture, nationality, race, class, place of birth, etc. that may happen to exist between them.

In Mandarin, one way in which East meets West is in the expression “Dōng (East 东 東)‐Xī (West 西)”, this week’s MEotW. Many find it kind of cute or funny that the expression “dōngxi (dōng·xi east · west → [thing; something] 东西 東西)”, which uses the same characters as “Dōng (East 东 東)‐Xī (West 西)” and thus literally means “east west”, is used in Mandarin to mean “thing”. However, especially in these days of significant tensions between the USA and China, for example, it’s good to also soberly consider that “Dōng (East 东 東)‐Xī (West 西)”, as in “Dōng (East 东 東)‐Xī (West 西) fāng (directions’ → [sides’] 方) guānxi (guān·xi {closings → [involvings]} · {tyings → [relatings]} → [relations] 关系 關係)” (“East-West relations”), is also a thing.

Same Characters, Different Pronunciations, etc.

First of all, let us note that although “dōngxi (dōng·xi east · west → [thing; something] 东西 東西)” and “Dōng (East 东 東)‐Xī (West 西)” are written with the same characters, they should be written differently in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), since they have different pronunciations and different effective meanings.

Some like to say that characters are a good way to disambiguate (tell apart) the many homophones (different words that sound the same) that exist in Mandarin. (Actually, the best way to do so, which people use all the time when speaking Mandarin, is to consider the context.) However, “dōngxi (dōng·xi east · west → [thing; something] 东西 東西)”/“Dōng (East 东 東)‐Xī (West 西)” vs. “东西”/“东西” is a clear example of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) being able, in certain situations, to work better than characters at representing different words clearly and unambiguously.

East Meeting West in the Mandarin Field

With so many publishers from the English, Spanish, etc. fields who have admirably come to help out in the Mandarin field, many occasions thus arise for East and West to meet. How should we rise to such occasions as God’s people who “are no part of the world”, with its divided East and West?—John 15:19.

Preparing this post reminded me that I had written about this topic before in the tiandi.info blog. One example is the post “ ‘To Be More Like Us’ ”. Here is a quote from it:

While the help provided by Westerners in the Chinese field is greatly beneficial and greatly appreciated, the work we are all doing in the Chinese field is, not to help Chinese people to be more like white people, but to help Chinese-speaking people to join us, Jehovah’s people, in working to be more like Jehovah wants us to be, a condition which none of us have attained to yet, regardless of our racial, ethnic, or cultural background.—Philippians 3:12, 13.

(If you need login information for the parts of tiandi.info that require it, request it by email, and include information on how you learned of tiandi.info and/or what group/cong. you are in.)

“What Nationality Are You?”

The tiandi.info post linked to in the quoted passage above, “What Do You Think Regarding Which Culture is More Godly?”, also contains many good points in this regard, such as some concerning what Scientific American called “buried prejudice”, prejudice that we may unconsciously have and act on. The comments for this post also contain some great stuff, such as this:

Since I had a number of friends from several ——- —— countries, I wanted to test my knowledge and see if my assumption was right so I asked him, “What nationality are you?”. He said proudly with a smile, “I am one of Jehovah’s Witnesses”. I said, “I mean your family name. I was just curious to know where it comes from”. He said again, “I am one of Jehovah’s Witnesses!” but this time more firmly and with no smile. I was a little taken aback at first but then I thought about it and really appreciated his answer.

It puts things in perspective. From a higher perspective that is, say, from Jehovah’s or the angels. When they look down they see either those serving Jehovah or those who are not. All the other different types of distinctions and categories here are from man, man under the influence of Satan. The most important heritage we have is our spiritual heritage.

…

I can’t say that I am completely free from the influence of the world’s views but I’m trying to view things the way this brother so boldly did. I never saw him again and have since forgotten his name but I have never forgotten his answer and what was most important to him.

No matter what foreign language field we are working in, we need to help our students to take up the “culture” of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Jehovah’s standards, views and ways of doing things are superior to any other culture of this world. That’s the best culture.

Additionally, the above-mentioned post contains this image and associated caption:

The Chinese characters “東” (“East”) and “西” (“West”) on a background of coloured static

Both Eastern and Western cultures emerged from and are part of the chaos of the world alienated from God.

Although East-West relations in the world—especially China-US relations—have been becoming strained lately, we who have come out of the world can and should rise above such petty worldly contradictions and conflicts, and continue to move forward together on the narrow road to everlasting life in Jehovah God’s peaceful, united, and harmonious new world.—John 15:19; Matthew 7:13, 14; Isaiah 2:4; Revelation 21:1–5.

Categories
Culture Current Events

hūxī

hūxī (hū·xī {breathing out}; exhaling · {breathing in}; inhaling → [breathing] 呼吸) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

Hūxī (Hū·xī {breathing out}; exhaling · {breathing in}; inhaling → [breathing] 呼吸), the Mandarin word for “breathe”, literally translates as “breathe out breath in”. This is an interesting contrast to the English expression “breathe in, breathe out”, which refers to the same thing, just in a different culturally selected order.

Another example of East and West coming at the same thing from different directions is that in the English-speaking world, a “compass” is generally thought of as pointing north, whereas “zhǐnán‐zhēn ((zhǐ·nán {(points with) finger → [points]} · south 指南)‐(zhēn needle 针 針) → [compass])” (a previous MEotW)”, the Mandarin word for the same thing, in contrast means a needle that points south.

In both the above examples, neither the Eastern view nor the Western view is wrong—they’re just different.

“The Ballad of East and West”

Rudyard Kipling’s poem “The Ballad of East and West” begins with these lines:

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!

The first line quoted above is often referred to in order to emphasize how the gap between East and West can seem insurmountable. (By the way, “twain” is an archaic term for “two”. So, “never the twain shall meet” means “never the two shall meet”.) However, there is more to the poem.

The other lines quoted above express that individuals who are spiritually strong enough to do so can overcome any differences in culture, nationality, race, class, place of birth, etc. that may happen to exist between them. And, as we know, this is especially true when those individuals let themselves be taught by the God of peace, who “will judge to the ends of the earth”.–Isaiah 54:13; 1 Samuel 2:10.

So, in this unusually hot summer when the world is figuratively and literally on fire, let us take a moment, hūxī (hū·xī {breathe out} · {breathe in} → [breathe] 呼吸), and take in Jehovah God’s instruction, like that which is included in the sessions of the 2022 “Pursue Peace”! convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses.