jīngmíng (jīng·míng {[is] sharp; clever; shrewd; smart} · {[is] bright → [[is] understanding]} → [[is] shrewd; astute] 精明) ← 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.
Be Shrewd, not Naive
Like past MEotW “tiānzhēn (tiān·zhēn {(of) heaven → [natural]} · {(following) natural instincts} → [innocent; naive; simple and unaffected | (human) nature] 天真)”, this week’s MEotW, “jīngmíng (jīng·míng {[is] sharp; clever; shrewd; smart} · {[is] bright → [[is] understanding]} → [[is] shrewd; astute] 精明)”, 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:
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 “jīngmíng (jīng·míng {[is] sharp; clever; shrewd; smart} · {[is] bright → [[is] understanding]} → [[is] shrewd; astute] 精明)”, “jīng ({[(having)] energy; spirit} [→ [refined; excellent]] | {[is] sharp; clever; shrewd; smart} | {[is] skilled; proficient} | {[is] meticulous; precise} | essence | sperm; semen; seed 精)” here means “[is] sharp; clever; shrewd; smart”. In other contexts, it can have other meanings, as it does in “jīngdú (jīng·dú meticulous · reading 精读 精讀) běn ({root or stem} → [edition] 本)” (used in the name of the Mandarin New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition)), “jīngshén (spirit [→ [mind; mental state; psycho-; -ism]] 精神)”, “shòujīng luǎn ((shòu·jīng received · sperm; semen; seed → [fertilized] 受精) (luǎn ovum; egg 卵) → [fertilized egg/ovum; zygote])”, etc.
As for “míng ({[is] bright} [→ [[is] understanding]] | {[make] clear; distinct [→ [sense of vision; sight | sharp-eyed; clear-sighted]]} | next (day/year…) 明)”, its basic literal meaning is “[is] bright”, and it also often has an effective meaning of “[is] understanding”, as it does in “jīngmíng (jīng·míng {[is] sharp; clever; shrewd; smart} · {[is] bright → [[is] understanding]} → [[is] shrewd; astute] 精明)” as well as in the well-known expression “míngbai (míng·bai {[is] bright [(about)] → [[is] understanding]} · clearly 明白)”.
Taken together, the morphemes in “jīngmíng (jīng·míng {[is] sharp; clever; shrewd; smart} · {[is] bright → [[is] understanding]} → [[is] shrewd; astute] 精明)” are used to effectively mean “[is] shrewd; astute”.
Being Shrewd with Regard to Evolution and Creation
Those who are truly shrewd will not be swayed by the prevailing winds blowing through the “air” of this world, “the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience”. These prevailing winds constantly push people in the direction of believing, among other things, the baseless fairy tales of evolution, which serve “the ruler of the authority of the air”, Satan the Devil, and distance us from our loving Creator Jehovah God.—Ephesians 2:2.
Rather than just going along with the fēngqì (fēng·qì {winds → [common practices]} · {airs → [attitudes]} 风气 風氣) of Satan’s world, let us take to heart the counsel at Ephesians 4:14:
So we should no longer be children, tossed about as by waves and carried here and there by every wind of teaching by means of the trickery of men, by means of cunning in deceptive schemes.
Being Shrewd with Regard to Learning Mandarin
Us Mandarin field language learners will also show ourselves to be shrewd if we stand firm against the prevailing winds of characters-first thinking that comes from traditional worldly Chinese culture. Such thinking serves to glorify and glamourize a vain and proud part of Satan’s world, the only nation that names itself the “Central Nation” (past MEotW Zhōngguó (Zhōng·guó Central · Nation → [China] 中国 中國)) of the world, and this kind of thinking’s focus on the extraordinarily and unnecessarily complex square wheels that are Chinese characters can end up bogging down our efforts in the Mandarin field to glorify Jehovah and give spiritual assistance to right-hearted Mandarin-speaking people.
Instead of going along with the world’s focus on the self-indulgently complex Chinese characters, let us focus in the Mandarin field on learning to be able to hear with comprehension and produce with clarity understandable speech, as the Bible itself emphasizes at 1 Corinthians 14:8–11:
For if the trumpet sounds an indistinct call, who will get ready for battle? In the same way, unless you with the tongue use speech that is easily understood [emphasis added—Ed.], how will anyone know what is being said? You will, in fact, be speaking into the air. It may be that there are many kinds of speech in the world, and yet no kind is without meaning. For if I do not understand the sense of the speech, I will be a foreigner to the one speaking, and the one speaking will be a foreigner to me.
Remember, while the Chinese people of times past may have invented Chinese characters, Jehovah God, who inspired the above passage of scripture, invented human language itself, and he knows way more than the ancient Chinese did about how us humans should learn and use language. Also, Jehovah is ultimately who we are working for in the Mandarin field, so that’s yet another reason to follow his direction over that of worldly Chinese people when it comes to how we should learn and use the Mandarin language in his service.
Music is the sounds we hear, not the musical notation that we see 🎼.
Mandarin is the SPEECH we hear, not the Chinese characters that we see. pic.twitter.com/c6WacUQ3nD
— Troubadour WW (@troubadourww) March 3, 2024
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.
