Tag: The Watchtower

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wúkě‐bǐnǐ

wúkě (wú·kě {there is not} · {being able} 无可 無可)‐bǐnǐ (bǐ·nǐ {to compare} · {to compare; parallel} → [to compare; match; draw a parallel] 比拟 比擬) 👈🏼 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.]

Rather than dismissively thinking to ourselves that the songs produced by the organization are “just songs”, we should remember that the slave class takes seriously its responsibility to provide spiritual food to God’s people, and so it is going to make sure that the lyrics in its songs are spiritually correct, while also being emotionally moving.—Ezekiel 33:32; Matthew 24:45.

Without Compare

“wúkě‐bǐnǐ” _Pīnyīn_ Plus info, Song 152 (music+_Pīnyīn_), on iPhone 13 mini (landscape orientation)

This week’s MEotW in the unofficial Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web)

This week’s MEotW, “wúkě (wú·kě {there is not} · {being able} 无可 無可)‐bǐnǐ (bǐ·nǐ {to compare} · {to compare; parallel} → [to compare; match; draw a parallel] 比拟 比擬)”, comes from the first verse of song 152, which is entitled “A Place That Will Bring You Praise” in English and “Nǐ de ((Nǐ You 你) (de ’s 的) → [Your]) Róngyào (Róng·yào Glorious · {Brilliant → [Glorious]} → [Glorious] 荣耀 榮耀) zhī (’ 之) Jiā ([mw for establishments] 家)” in Mandarin:

English:

Jehovah, the Maker of heaven,
By heaven you can’t be contained,
Even less an earthly dwelling place.
But your spirit can here remain.

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

📖 📄 📘 Yēhéhuá (Jehovah 耶和华 耶和華) yòng (used 用) dà (big → [great] 大) néng (ability 能) zào ({to make} 造) tiāndì (tiān·dì heavens · earth 天地),
Nǐ de ((Nǐ you 你) (de ’s 的) → [your]) róngyào (róng·yào glory · {being brilliant → [glory]} → [glory] 荣耀 榮耀) wúkě (wú·kě {there is not} · {being able} 无可 無可)‐bǐnǐ (bǐ·nǐ {to compare} · {to parallel} → [to compare] 比拟 比擬).
Xiǎoxiǎo (Xiǎo·xiǎo small · small → [miniscule] 小小) dìqiú (dì·qiú earth · globe 地球) rúhé (rú·hé like · how → [how] 如何) néng (can 能) chéngzài (chéng·zài bear · hold → [bear the weight of] 承载 承載)
Nǐ de ((Nǐ you 你) (de ’s 的) → [your]) lìliang (lì·liang power · quantity 力量), nǐ de ((nǐ you 你) (de ’s 的) → [your]) hòu’ài (hòu’·ài {thick → [deep]} · love 厚爱 厚愛)?

“Wúkě (Wú·kě {there is not} · {being able} 无可 無可)‐bǐnǐ (bǐ·nǐ {to compare} · {to compare; parallel} → [to compare; match; draw a parallel] 比拟 比擬)” means “there is not being able to compare”. So, the line that it appears in, “Nǐ de ((Nǐ you 你) (de ’s 的) → [your]) róngyào (róng·yào glory · {being brilliant → [glory]} → [glory] 荣耀 榮耀) wúkě (wú·kě {there is not} · {being able} 无可 無可)‐bǐnǐ (bǐ·nǐ {to compare} · {to parallel} → [to compare] 比拟 比擬)”, means “Your glory is without compare”.

People of this world support corrupt, self-seeking politicians, worship the blind chance that they say powers evolution, look for space aliens, place their hopes in artificial intelligence, and so on. However, none of those could accomplish what Jehovah God has accomplished—He alone is the One who actually created the universe and all the living things in it. So, as expressed by this week’s MEotW, Jehovah’s glory truly is without compare, and there is no one and nothing else that people should look to and hope in in these dark times.

As Mandarin field language learners, let us be determined to keep on doing our best to sing Jehovah’s praises well in this largest of all worldwide language fields. Not only is the Mandarin field the largest one in the world, with about a billion people worldwide for whom Mandarin is their mother tongue, it’s also about 2½ times the size of the worldwide English field. So, it could be said that there should really be about 2½ times as many publishers in the worldwide Mandarin field as there are in the worldwide English field. Yes, “the harvest is great, but the workers are few”, so sing out loud in the Mandarin field, and sing out strong!—Matthew 9:37, 38.

Chart: Languages by First-Language Speakers—2019

Musical Notation 🎼 and the Mandarin Field

In this post about a Mandarin expression found in our songbook, another subject that I want to touch on is: Is musical notation 🎼 too hard to be worth the trouble of producing it and using it? Are fewer and fewer people able to read it? I was fortunate enough to have been taught how to read musical notation in school. I have never thought of musical notation as being particularly difficult to use (it’s much easier to learn than characters, which many unquestioningly try to learn), and I find that it helps me to sing Kingdom songs more correctly (according to the intended melody, message, etc.) and more confidently more of the time. However, I am aware that not everyone in the Mandarin field has the same experience with musical notation. For example, a while ago, an older brother told me that he didn’t know how to read musical notation. Also, some people in the Mandarin field may have been affected by how education systems in this old world have been facing significant challenges relating to providing music education for younger ones.

Regardless of how the world may be failing in many cases to equitably provide good music education, Jehovah’s organization has pointed out that music is important in Jehovah’s worship. For example, not long ago, a Meeting Workbook said:

Music can have a powerful influence on the mind and body. Singing is an important part of our worship of Jehovah.

In accordance with the importance of music in Jehovah’s worship, Mandarin field language learners used to have available to them official material from the organization containing musical notation with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) in the lyrics. However, perhaps at least partially because of the technical difficulty and costliness of producing material with musical notation and both Chinese characters and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) in the lyrics, as of this writing, early in 2025, there is no official material currently available from the organization that shows Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) and musical notation on the same page or screen.

The organization continues to publish official songbook material for different languages in general that contains musical notation, so it evidently still considers musical notation to generally be worthwhile to produce. It continues to produce official material for the current songbook that uses musical notation along with lyrics rendered only in Chinese characters, without Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), and it has even produced official material that uses jiǎnpǔ (jiǎn·pǔ simple · {register or record for reference → [musical notation]} → [numbered musical notation] 简谱 簡譜) (a kind of musical notation also known as numbered musical notation) and Chinese characters.

For those who find it helpful in their Mandarin field activities to put musical notation together with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), the unofficial Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web) exists and is continuing to be improved. As shown in the screenshot above, this resource aids Mandarin field language learners by breaking with tradition and featuring lyrics in the musical notation that are only in relatively large-print Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) by default—characters are relegated to Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus “flashcards” that are added as time allows.

Unlike the traditionally-used but unnecessarily extraordinarily complex characters that need to be accompanied by Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) before many are able to read them, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) itself is a simple, elegant alphabetical full writing system for Mandarin that is easy to learn and remember. Also, it is no harder to typeset than other alphabetical writing systems with diacritics, such as the writing systems now used for French, Czech, Vietnamese, etc.*

In its Tips: section at the bottom of its home page, the “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web) resource contains these links that some may find helpful:

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the “Sing Out Joyfully” book is:

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

 

* Thanks to ongoing advancements in personal computing hardware and software, producing material that contains things like musical notation and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) text at reasonable cost is quicker and easier than ever. At this time, production of the musical notation in the “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web) resource begins in free open source software called MuseScore Studio, running on a Mac. Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) text for the lyrics in the musical notation is entered using macOS’s ABC – Extended input source (keyboard layout). (Just using Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) text only here simplifies things so much compared to having to somehow input characters with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) ruby text!) When it’s ready, the musical notation for a song is exported from MuseScore Studio into SVG format, which is a plain text format that allows for the inclusion of links that activate Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus flashcards on webpages. The coding for the SVG links is currently mostly done using the text editor BBEdit, in which editing large text files is quite performant. For Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material production in general, my current favourite tool is Nova, but such web material can be produced in any application suitable for web development, such as Visual Studio Code, etc. ^

Categories
Culture Current Events Experiences Language Learning Technology Theocratic

qiānqiū‐wàndài

qiānqiū (qiān·qiū thousand · autumns 千秋)‐wàndài (wàn·dài {ten thousand} · {replacings → [generations]} 万代 萬代) 👈🏼 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.]

Rather than dismissively thinking to ourselves that the songs produced by the organization are “just songs”, we should remember that the slave class takes seriously its responsibility to provide spiritual food to God’s people, and so it is going to make sure that the lyrics in its songs are spiritually correct, while also being emotionally moving.—Ezekiel 33:32; Matthew 24:45.

“In Ev’ry Generation”

“qiānqiū” _Pīnyīn_ Plus info, Song 2 (music+_Pīnyīn_), on iPhone 13 mini (landscape orientation)

This week’s MEotW in the unofficial Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web)

This week’s MEotW, “qiānqiū (qiān·qiū thousand · autumns 千秋)‐wàndài (wàn·dài {ten thousand} · {replacings → [generations]} 万代 萬代)”, comes from the first verse of song 2, which is entitled “Jehovah Is Your Name” in English and “Nǐ de ((Nǐ You 你) (de ’s 的) → [Your]) Míng (Name 名) Shì (Is 是) Yēhéhuá (Jehovah 耶和华 耶和華)” in Mandarin:

English:

In ev’ry generation—
Jehovah is your name.

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

📖 📄 📘 Nǐ de ((Nǐ you 你) (de ’s 的) → [your]) míng (name 名) cóngbù (cóng·bù ever · not → [never] 从不 從不) gēnggǎi (gēng·gǎi {does change} · {does alter} 更改),
Liúchuán (Liú·chuán {flows → [circulates]} · {is handed down} (for) 流传 流傳) qiānqiū (qiān·qiū thousand · autumns 千秋)‐wàndài (wàn·dài {ten thousand} · {replacings → [generations]} 万代 萬代).

“Qiānqiū (Qiān·qiū thousand · autumns 千秋)‐wàndài (wàn·dài {ten thousand} · {replacings → [generations]} 万代 萬代)” literally means “thousand autumns ten thousand replacings”. However, as explained in the MEotW post on “dài ({take the place of}; replace; subsitute | replacing; substituting → [acting; substitute | generation [→ [period; era; age]]] 代)”, this expression, while literally meaning “replacing”, can effectively mean “generation”:

Yes, the Chinese concept of a “generation” is that it is something that takes the place of or replaces what was there before—the emphasis seems to be on continuation, and a new generation is viewed as having done well if it lived up to or maintained what came before it. In contrast, in the English-speaking world, a “generation” is something new that is generated—the emphasis seems to be more on innovation, progress, and a new generation is viewed as having done well if it improved upon what came before it, and moved things ahead. For example, the English expression “next generation” indeed implies innovation and progress compared to previous generations, such as when applied to vehicles, computers, and other technology.

So, on a certain level of literalness, “qiānqiū (qiān·qiū thousand · autumns 千秋)‐wàndài (wàn·dài {ten thousand} · {replacings → [generations]} 万代 萬代)” means “thousand autumns ten thousand generations”. As shown in the example above from song 2, this is basically a poetic way to refer to “ev’ry generation”, or “forever”. Another expression that means basically the same thing is “qiānqiū (qiān·qiū thousand · autumns 千秋)‐wànshì (wàn·shì {ten thousand} · generations 万世 萬世)”.

Also, another example of “wàn ({ten thousand} [→ [all; a very great number of]] 万 萬/万)” (“ten thousand”) being used in Mandarin to effectively mean “all” or “every” occurs in “wànwù (wàn·wù {ten thousand → [all]} · things 万物 萬物)”, which literally means “ten thousand things” and effectively means “all things”.

Is Everyone Replaceable?

This talk of replacing reminds me: It’s a pet peeve of mine that people sometimes use the expression “no one is irreplaceable”. While it’s true that each of us should maintain appropriate modesty and humility, I suspect that this expression really reflects worldly human corporate culture that treats people like fungible, disposable widgets instead of as individual human beings that each have different qualities and abilities. Such thinking that justifies exploiting people for small-minded short-term profit without having to appropriately recognize and reward them for their individual contributions and potential is in stark contrast to the Bible’s depiction of how Jehovah God knows and values each one of us as individuals. As Jesus said at Matthew 10:29–31:

Two sparrows sell for a coin of small value, do they not? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. So have no fear; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Musical Notation 🎼 and the Mandarin Field

In this post about a Mandarin expression found in our songbook, another subject that I want to touch on is: Is musical notation 🎼 too hard to be worth the trouble of producing it and using it? Are fewer and fewer people able to read it? I was fortunate enough to have been taught how to read musical notation in school. I have never thought of musical notation as being particularly difficult to use (it’s much easier to learn than characters, which many unquestioningly try to learn), and I find that it helps me to sing Kingdom songs more correctly (according to the intended melody, message, etc.) and more confidently more of the time. However, I am aware that not everyone in the Mandarin field has the same experience with musical notation. For example, a while ago, an older brother told me that he didn’t know how to read musical notation. Also, some people in the Mandarin field may have been affected by how education systems in this old world have been facing significant challenges relating to providing music education for younger ones.

Regardless of how the world may be failing in many cases to equitably provide good music education, Jehovah’s organization has pointed out that music is important in Jehovah’s worship. For example, not long ago, a Meeting Workbook said:

Music can have a powerful influence on the mind and body. Singing is an important part of our worship of Jehovah.

In accordance with the importance of music in Jehovah’s worship, Mandarin field language learners used to have available to them official material from the organization containing musical notation with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) in the lyrics. However, perhaps at least partially because of the technical difficulty and costliness of producing material with musical notation and both Chinese characters and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) in the lyrics, as of this writing, late in 2024, there is no official material currently available from the organization that shows Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) and musical notation on the same page or screen.

The organization continues to publish official songbook material for different languages in general that contains musical notation, so it evidently still considers musical notation to generally be worthwhile to produce. It continues to produce official material for the current songbook that uses musical notation along with lyrics rendered only in Chinese characters, without Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), and it has even produced official material that uses jiǎnpǔ (jiǎn·pǔ simple · {register or record for reference → [musical notation]} → [numbered musical notation] 简谱 簡譜) (a kind of musical notation also known as numbered musical notation) and Chinese characters.

For those who find it helpful in their Mandarin field activities to put musical notation together with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), the unofficial Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web) exists and is continuing to be improved. As shown in the screenshot above, this resource aids Mandarin field language learners by breaking with tradition and featuring lyrics in the musical notation that are only in relatively large-print Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) by default—characters are relegated to Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus “flashcards” that are added as time allows.

Unlike the traditionally-used but unnecessarily extraordinarily complex characters that need to be accompanied by Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) before many are able to read them, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) itself is a simple, elegant alphabetical full writing system for Mandarin that is easy to learn and remember. Also, it is no harder to typeset than other alphabetical writing systems with diacritics, such as the writing systems now used for French, Czech, Vietnamese, etc.*

In its Tips: section at the bottom of its home page, the “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web) resource contains these links that some may find helpful:

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the “Sing Out Joyfully” book is:

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

 

* Thanks to ongoing advancements in personal computing hardware and software, producing material that contains things like musical notation and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) text at reasonable cost is quicker and easier than ever. At this time, production of the musical notation in the “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web) resource begins in free open source software called MuseScore Studio, running on a Mac. Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) text for the lyrics in the musical notation is entered using macOS’s ABC – Extended input source (keyboard layout). (Just using Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) text only here simplifies things so much compared to having to somehow input characters with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) ruby text!) When it’s ready, the musical notation for a song is exported from MuseScore Studio into SVG format, which is a plain text format that allows for the inclusion of links that activate Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus flashcards on webpages. The coding for the SVG links is currently mostly done using the text editor BBEdit, in which editing large text files is quite performant. For Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material production in general, my current favourite tool is Nova, but such web material can be produced in any application suitable for web development, such as Visual Studio Code, etc. ^

Categories
Culture Experiences Language Learning Science Theocratic

shūtú‐tóngguī

shūtú‐tóngguī ((shū·tú {[are] different} · ways; roads; routes 殊途)‐(tóng·guī {[are the] same} · {coming together} 同归 同歸) → [[are] different roads/routes/etc. to the same place/destination/goal/etc.]) ← 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.]

One of the publications that is now recommended to be used on Bible studies is the Yǒngyuǎn Xiǎngshòu Měihǎo de Shēngmìng—Hùdòng Shì Shèngjīng Kèchéng ((Yǒng·yuǎn Eternally · {Far (in Time)} 永远 永遠) (Xiǎng·shòu Enjoy · Receive 享受) (Měi·hǎo Beautiful · Good 美好) (de ’s 的) (Shēngmìng Life 生命)—(Hù·dòng {Each Other} · Moving → [Interactive] 互动 互動) (Shì (Type 式) (Shèng·jīng Holy · Scriptures → [Bible] 圣经 聖經) (Kè·chéng Lessons · Procedure → [Course] 课程 課程) → [Enjoy Life Forever!—An Interactive Bible Course (lff)]) (Enjoy Life Forever! (lff)) book. This week’s MEotW, “shūtú‐tóngguī ((shū·tú {[are] different} · ways; roads; routes 殊途)‐(tóng·guī {[are the] same} · {coming together} 同归 同歸) → [[are] different roads/routes/etc. to the same place/destination/goal/etc.])”, appears in lesson 13, point 4 of this book:

English:

Many people believe that religions are like different roads that all lead to God. But is that true?

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

📖 📄 📘 Xǔduō (Xǔ·duō numbers · many 许多 許多) rén (people 人) rènwéi (rèn·wéi identify · {(it) to be} 认为 認為), suǒyǒu (suǒ·yǒu {(all) which} · {(there) are having → [(there) are]} → [all] 所有) zōngjiào (zōng·jiào {schools of thought} · teachings → [religions] 宗教) dōu (all 都) shūtú‐tóngguī ((shū·tú {are different} · roads 殊途)‐(tóng·guī {are the same} · {coming together} 同归 同歸) → [are different roads to the same place]), dàn (but 但) zhè (this 这 這) shì (is 是) zhēn (true 真) de ({’s (thing)} 的) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)?

Morphemic Breakdown

The first morpheme in this week’s MEotW, “shū (different [→ [special; outstanding; remarkable]] 殊)”, literally means “different”. It can in some contexts effectively mean “special; outstanding; remarkable”, which helps explain its appearance in such expressions as “tèshū (tè·shū {[is] special; particular; unusual; exceptional} · {[is] different [→ [[is] special; outstanding; remarkable; unusual]]} 特殊)” and “shūróng (shū·róng {different → [special; outstanding; remarkable]} · honour; glory 殊荣 殊榮)”.

The next morpheme, “tú (road; route; journey; way; path; course 途/涂 途/塗)”, means “road; route; journey; way; path; course”. Other Mandarin expressions that make use of it include “mítú (mí·tú lost · way; road; route [→ [lost one’s way]] 迷途)”, “qítú (qí·tú {[(wrong)] branch} · road; route; journey; way 歧途)”, and, notably, “qiántú (qián·tú ahead · road → [future; prospects] 前途)”.

The third morpheme, “tóng (same; similar | {together [with]}; {in common} 同 同/仝)”, is an often-used one that basically means “same”, as it does in “tóngyàng (tóng·yàng {[(in the)] same} · kind; type; appearance; shape; {pattern; form [→ [way]]} [of] 同样 同樣)”, for example.

The last morpheme, “guī ({return to} | {belong to} | {turn over to} | converge; {gather/come together} 归 歸)”, can mean “return to”, “belong to”, “turn over to”, or “converge; gather/come together”, as it does in this week’s MEotW. Other Mandarin expressions in which it appears include “guīhuí (guī·huí return · {to circle back [to]} 归回 歸回)” and “wú‐jiā‐kě‐guī ((wú without 无 無/无)‐(jiā home 家)‐(kě {(that) can} 可)‐(guī {be returned to} 归 歸) → [homeless])”.

Taken together, the constituent morphemes in “shūtú‐tóngguī ((shū·tú {[are] different} · ways; roads; routes 殊途)‐(tóng·guī {[are the] same} · {coming together} 同归 同歸) → [[are] different roads/routes/etc. to the same place/destination/goal/etc.])” effectively mean “[are] different roads/routes/etc. to the same place/destination/goal/etc.” As the Enjoy Life Forever! book points out, many believe that this concept applies to the different religions, but the Bible, for example, at Matthew 7:13, 14, plainly teaches otherwise.

One True Religion, Exclusive Devotion

Sadly, some people allow this to become a big issue for them. Years ago, I had a call who in many ways seemed like a good call. He was unusual in that he was young, but was a devout Buddhist who was seriously into Buddhism, not just someone who was merely going along with his Buddhist parents. We had a few long, seemingly good discussions, but one thing that he firmly believed was that it was acceptable for us to practise different religions and worship different gods. After a while, he attended a public talk that I gave in which I used the illustration that God requires his true worshippers to practise the one true religion and to be exclusively devoted to him, just like a husband requires exclusive devotion from his wife, and unfortunately, he lost interest after that. I felt bad because of what happened, but a brother reminded me that not everyone has the right heart condition to progress in the truth.—Acts 13:48.

Indeed, for one to make real spiritual progress, one must be willing to take to heart God’s clearly stated views, rather than stubbornly sticking to one’s own preferred ideas regardless of what God has said about them. Such acceptance of God’s direction is the only way for one to truly have a good relationship with him, as opposed to one just viewing and treating Almighty God like a butler who exists (if one even really believes he exists) merely to satisfy one’s whims.

Different Ways to Learn Mandarin?

Just as many find the idea that different religions are just different roads to the same place to be appealing, many also like to believe that there are different acceptable ways to learn Mandarin, including focusing on learning Chinese characters, as encouraged by many traditionally-minded Mandarin teachers. It may be true to an extent that different ways of learning Mandarin can produce acceptable results. However, if we truly want to make best use of our dedicated, limited time and resources in the Mandarin field, we should keep some basic, objective truths in mind, as pointed out in the article “SPEECH is Top Priority, Not Characters”:

It’s good if some have already learned to use characters, but for those of us who are learning Mandarin for the Mandarin field, our focus should really be on understanding Mandarin speech and speaking Mandarin understandably:

Your first linguistic goal should be to “utter speech easily understood.” [emphasis added] (1 Corinthians 14:8-11) Though people may be tolerant, mistakes or a heavy accent may distract them from listening to your message. Giving attention to proper pronunciation and grammar right from the start will prevent you from forming bad habits that are hard to break.
—“Serving With a Foreign-Language Congregation”, in the March 15, 2006 Watchtower.

8 For if the trumpet sounds an indistinct call, who will get ready for battle? 9 In the same way, unless you with the tongue use speech that is easily understood [emphasis added], how will anyone know what is being said? You will, in fact, be speaking into the air. 10 It may be that there are many kinds of speech in the world, and yet no kind is without meaning. 11 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.
—1 Corinthians 14:8–11.

…

…just like it’s an established fact that the earth is round, according to modern linguistics (the scientific study of language) this is also an established fact: “Speech is primary, writing is secondary and is always derivative of speech.” This scientific truth about language, that Jehovah built us and wired us to primarily communicate meaning through speech, supports what 1 Corinthians 14:8–11 (quoted above) says about understandable speech being of prime importance to Christian evangelizers. …

…publishers need to learn to understand Mandarin speech to benefit spiritually from Mandarin meetings, because the talks, comments, etc. at such meetings are made of Mandarin speech, not characters. In fact, focusing on characters makes this problem worse because it makes learning Mandarin speech harder and slower. At the very least, it distracts from learning Mandarin speech.

…

Characters focus mainly on themselves, and are at best a scenic route to learning Mandarin speech, while Pīnyīn is a fast, direct route to learning Mandarin speech. As rescue workers in the Mandarin field, rather than tourists, we must give top priority to the fastest, most effective way to help those in the field, not to the way that features cultural attractions for us to see.

Different roads indeed!

For convenience:

The direct link for the current generation Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Enjoy Life Forever! book is:

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