Tag: tiandi.info

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Culture History Language Learning Technology Theocratic

cuò

cuò ({[is] alternating; staggered} [→ [[is] wrong; mistaken; incorrect; erroneous | missed | grinding; rubbing | moving to the side | mistake; error; blunder [→ [fault]]]] | {[is] interlocked and jagged} [→ [intricate]] 错 錯) ← 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, “cuò ({[is] alternating; staggered} [→ [[is] wrong; mistaken; incorrect; erroneous | missed | grinding; rubbing | moving to the side | mistake; error; blunder [→ [fault]]]] | {[is] interlocked and jagged} [→ [intricate]] 错 錯)”, occurs at about the 18 second mark of the video for lesson 08, point 6 of this book:

📖 📄 📘 Wǒ (I 我) zǒng (always 总 總/縂) juéde (jué·de {to wake to → [to feel]} · got → [got to feel] 觉得 覺得), fāshēng (fā·shēng {issued forth} · {came to life} → [happened] 发生 發生) zài (on 在) wǒ (me 我) shēnshang (shēn·shang {body → [self]} · upon 身上) de (’s 的) shì (things 事) dōu (all 都) shì (were 是) wǒ de ((wǒ me 我) (de ’s 的) → [my]) cuò ({being staggered} → [error] → [fault] 错 錯).

Many undoubtedly already know this word to mean “wrong” or “mistaken”. However, examination of the various meanings provided for it in various dictionaries, perhaps with an app like Pleco that allows one to quickly check multiple dictionaries, seems to reveal that there is an extra layer of meaning underneath the meaning of “wrong” or “mistaken” that many at first think of for “cuò ({[is] alternating; staggered} [→ [[is] wrong; mistaken; incorrect; erroneous | missed | grinding; rubbing | moving to the side | mistake; error; blunder [→ [fault]]]] | {[is] interlocked and jagged} [→ [intricate]] 错 錯)”. This more basic meaning seems to be that of “alternating”, or “staggered”—basically, not lining up.

As I have continued to research into the meanings of Mandarin expressions as part of my work on this blog, my work on Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material, and just as part of my overall Mandarin language-learning journey, I have come across many such expressions that seem to have turned out to have extra layers of meaning underneath the ones I was at first familiar with.

Digging Deeper

The historical roots of Mandarin Chinese stretch far back in time. As the Wikipedia article on Old Mandarin summarizes:

Old Mandarin or Early Mandarin was the speech of northern China during the Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty and the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty (12th to 14th centuries).

So, it’s not surprising that there may be etymological layers of meaning underneath the meanings of Mandarin expressions that we are familiar with today. It’s much like how occasionally physical things from the past get discovered in places where people lived and did things in the past, like how so many artifacts have been discovered in places like Egypt or the lands that are now where ancient Mesopotamia used to be, or like how workers excavating the site of the current World Trade Centre building complex came across the remains of a wooden ship.

An Old Chinese Alphabet!

Interestingly, the above-mentioned Wikipedia article on Old Mandarin mentions an alphabet:

The phonology of Old Mandarin has been inferred from the ‘Phags-pa script, an alphabet created in 1269 for several languages of the Mongol empire, including Chinese…

The Wikipedia article on the ʼPhags-pa script provides some further summarized information:

The Phagspa script or ʼPhags-pa script[source] is an alphabet designed by the Tibetan monk and State Preceptor (later Imperial Preceptor) Drogön Chögyal Phagpa for Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan dynasty, as a unified script for the written languages within the Yuan. The actual use of this script was limited to about a hundred years during the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty, and it fell out of use with the advent of the Ming dynasty.[source][source]

It was used to write and transcribe varieties of Chinese, the Tibetic languages, Mongolian, the Uyghur language, Sanskrit, probably Persian,[source][source][source][source] and other neighboring languages[citation needed] during the Yuan era.

A manuscript copy of an imperial edict of the Yuan dynasty in ʼPhags-pa script
Creative Commons Public Domain logo
A manuscript copy of an imperial edict of the Yuan dynasty in ʼPhags-pa script

An example of the Chinese poem “Hundred Family Surnames” written in Chinese characters and in ʼPhags-pa script
Creative Commons Public Domain logo
An example of the Chinese poem “Hundred Family Surnames” written in Chinese characters and in ʼPhags-pa script

So, despite the claims of some Chinese traditionalists that the Chinese languages can only be written using Chinese characters, Chinese languages, including an old form of Mandarin, have been written with an alphabet before, one that was created for Kublai Khan himself! (Interestingly, Kublai Khan was the ruler of China when Marco Polo visited there. So, this famous Italian may have been there when Chinese languages were written using an alphabet.) Méi ({(there) is not having} 没 沒) cuò ({being staggered} → [mistake] 错 錯), there is historical precedent for the idea that a Chinese language like Modern Standard Mandarin can be written with an alphabetical writing system like Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音).

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.

Categories
Culture Current Events History Language Learning Science Technology

xuānchuán

xuānchuán (xuān·chuán declaring; proclaiming; announcing · {passing on}; spreading; transmitting → [conducting propaganda; propagating; disseminating; publicizing | propaganda] 宣传 宣傳) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

Several MEotW posts, including last week’s post on “cì’ěr (cì’·ěr {stabs; pricks → [irritates; pierces]} · ear → [grating on the ear; jarring; ear-piercing] 刺耳)”, have mentioned propaganda. So, it seems that it’s about time to consider the Mandarin expression “xuānchuán (xuān·chuán declaring; proclaiming; announcing · {passing on}; spreading; transmitting → [conducting propaganda; propagating; disseminating; publicizing | propaganda] 宣传 宣傳)”, which is often used to translate “propaganda”.

Morphemic Breakdown

The “xuān (declare; proclaim; announce 宣)” in “xuānchuán (xuān·chuán declaring; proclaiming; announcing · {passing on}; spreading; transmitting → [conducting propaganda; propagating; disseminating; publicizing | propaganda] 宣传 宣傳)” means “declare; proclaim; announce”, and it also appears in expressions like “xuānbù (xuān·bù declare; proclaim; announce · declare; spread; announce; publish; proclaim 宣布 宣布/佈)”, “xuānjiǎng (xuān·jiǎng declare; proclaim; announce · {speak of → [explain]} 宣讲 宣講)”, “xuānyáng (xuān·yáng declare; proclaim; announce · {raise → [make known]} 宣扬 宣揚)”, etc.

The “chuán ({pass on}; {hand down}; spread; transmit [→ [summon]] 传 傳)” in “xuānchuán (xuān·chuán declaring; proclaiming; announcing · {passing on}; spreading; transmitting → [conducting propaganda; propagating; disseminating; publicizing | propaganda] 宣传 宣傳)” means “pass on; hand down; spread; transmit”, and it also appears in expressions like “chuándào (chuán·dào spreading · way → [preaching] 传道 傳道)”, “Chuándàoshū (Chuán·dào·shū Spreading · Way · Book → [Ecclesiastes] 传道书 傳道書)”, “chuánjiǎng (chuán·jiǎng spread · {speak of; say; tell} [(that)] 传讲 傳講)”, “chuántǒng (chuán·tǒng {passed on} · {gathered together (things) → [interconnected system]} → [tradition | traditional] 传统 傳統)”, etc.

The above-mentioned morphemes in “xuānchuán (xuān·chuán declaring; proclaiming; announcing · {passing on}; spreading; transmitting → [conducting propaganda; propagating; disseminating; publicizing | propaganda] 宣传 宣傳)” are both basically verbs, and “xuānchuán (xuān·chuán declaring; proclaiming; announcing · {passing on}; spreading; transmitting → [conducting propaganda; propagating; disseminating; publicizing | propaganda] 宣传 宣傳)” itself is also basically a verb. However, it’s also used as a noun, making it a verbal noun, or a gerundial noun, in those cases.

How Bad Is It?

As mentioned in the excellent Referenced Theo. Expressions (RTE) resource, “it seems 宣传 [xuānchuán] is a neutral word in Chinese (can be either positive or negative)”. Indeed, the morphemes that make up “xuānchuán (xuān·chuán declaring; proclaiming; announcing · {passing on}; spreading; transmitting → [conducting propaganda; propagating; disseminating; publicizing | propaganda] 宣传 宣傳)”, mentioned above, are themselves both morally neutral. Like any technology, whether the things that these morphemes represent result in good or harm depends on how they are used. Unfortunately, we are now living in the last days of a world ruled by Satan the Devil, a world filled with self-seeking people who totally would misuse anything that would potentially enable them to exert influence over other people.—2 Timothy 3:1–5; 1 John 5:19.

It should not be surprising, then, that the worldly Chinese governing authorities may at times disseminate what many would recognize as propaganda—biased, misleading distortions of the truth meant to promote certain viewpoints, political or cultural objectives, etc. Add to that how Eastern culture generally encourages people to conform to the group and not question authority, and it’s not surprising that many who grew up marinated in Chinese culture have come to just accept such propaganda as fact, as just the way things are in the Chinese world.

As for the West, even though it has more of a culture of questioning authority, it, along with the world in general that the Internet can reach, has been experiencing a rise in misinformation and disinformation. Social media and other technologies that have become available have given people more power to select what information they want to take in, and, egged on by engagement-seeking algorithms, many have unfortunately chosen to just focus on information sources that tell them what they want to hear, whether it’s true or not. As the Bible foretold long ago:

For there will be a period of time when they will not put up with the wholesome teaching, but according to their own desires, they will surround themselves with teachers to have their ears tickled. They will turn away from listening to the truth and give attention to false stories.
—2 Timothy 4:3, 4.

As Jehovah’s people, we especially need to be wary of any worldly propaganda, because we want to be the true worshippers spoken of by Jesus, ones who “must worship with spirit and truth”.—John 4:23, 24.

Unfortunately, these days, even something as basically human as language gets politicized, so even just being language learners in the Mandarin field, we still need to watch out for worldly propaganda. Below are a couple of commonly accepted beliefs about the Chinese languages that are actually propaganda, not truth.

Propaganda About “Dialects”

“Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese, etc. are just dialects of the one Chinese language.” The truth is that being mutually unintelligible, Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese, etc. are really different languages, like French and English are different languages. The erroneous belief that Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese, etc. are just dialects of the one Chinese language has been promoted by the worldly central governing authorities in China to bolster the idea that China is indeed one big happy political entity that should have a central government—them.

Historically, though, it wasn’t always the case that there was just one government over the land that China now occupies. That didn’t become the case until Qín Shǐhuáng ((Qín {Qin (dynasty)} 秦) (Shǐ·huáng Beginning · Emperor 始皇) (the founder of the Qín dynasty and the first emperor of China)) conquered the other Warring States—which were peers of his own state of Qín ({Qin (one of the Warring States)} 秦)—and became the first emperor of a forcefully unified China. If it wasn’t for this, China could conceivably have become like modern-day Europe, with several peer states which are recognized as having their own distinct languages and cultures.

So, there is no need to allow the idea that Mandarin, Cantonese, etc. are just dialects to sabotage our efforts to learn Mandarin well by making us think that we can just take Cantonese, etc. and twist it a little to get Mandarin—all we would get then is a twisted mess!

Propaganda and the Characters

“Chinese characters are the primary aspect of the Chinese languages.” The truth is that when it comes to human language, speech is primary, not writing.

However, given how so many people around the world are so enchanted with the visually intricate Chinese characters, some may feel that the characters give China a certain amount of cultural—and maybe even political—soft power. Many also feel that characters have a unifying effect on Chinese people, since they use characters to write even if they speak different Chinese languages, as explained above. Thus, many may also feel that there may be some political advantages to characters for China’s worldly central ruling authorities. So, they may thus be motivated to promote Chinese characters over, say, a system like Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) that doesn’t have the same perceived visual and cultural pizzaz that the characters have, and that is only for Mandarin.

The truth is, though, that there is really no technical requirement for any language, Chinese or otherwise, to be written using Chinese characters—Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) works fine as a writing system for Mandarin without incurring the extraordinary costs in time and effort that the characters do, and separate but similar alphabetical systems can conceivably be designed and used for other Chinese languages as well.

Re the supposed unifying effect of the Chinese characters, there is not necessarily really much of a unifying effect among the Mandarin-speakers, Cantonese-speakers, Japanese-speakers, Korean-speakers, etc. who may use characters to write, any more than the use of the Latin alphabet unifies English-speakers, French-speakers, Italian-speakers, Mandarin-speakers, etc. who may use it to write. An especially stark current example of the relative insignificance of any unifying effect that a script or writing system may have is that unfortunately, Russia and Ukraine have hardly been unified because of their both using the Cyrillic script.

We who are Jehovah’s people in particular don’t need a product of human culture like the Chinese characters to unite us—we are united by the culture of spirit and truth from Jehovah God himself!—John 4:23, 24.

Don’t Be a Gullible “Tourist”!

As Jehovah’s people, let us make sure we are advancing the interests of God’s Kingdom, and not unwittingly serving the interests of worldly Chinese governments. As missionaries and rescue workers in the Mandarin field, and not just tourists (email me for login information, and include information on who referred you and/or what group/cong. you are in), let us be focused on what really helps us to do our God-honouring and life-saving work better. Let us not be misled by the self-serving xuānchuán (xuān·chuán declaring · spreading → [propaganda] 宣传 宣傳), the propaganda, from Satan’s world.

Categories
Theocratic

qiāndòng

qiāndòng (qiān·dòng {lead along}; pull · {to be moved} → [affect; influence; produce a change] 牵动 牽動) ← 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, “qiāndòng (qiān·dòng {lead along}; pull · {to be moved} → [affect; influence; produce a change] 牵动 牽動)”, appears in lesson 07, point 2 of this book:

Screenshot of “qiāndòng” in _Enjoy Life Forever!_ bk. lesson 07, point 2 (CHS+_Pīnyīn_ WOL)

The Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material for the context in which “qiāndòng (qiān·dòng {lead along}; pull · {to be moved} → [affect; influence; produce a change] 牵动 牽動)” occurs is as follows:

📖 📄 📘 Nǐ (you 你) zhīdào (zhī·dào {did know} · {(the) way (of it)} → [did know] 知道) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)? Wǒmen (Wǒ·men we · [pl] 我们 我們) zuò (do 做) de (’s 的) shì (things 事) huì (will 会 會) qiāndòng (qiān·dòng pull · {to be moved} → [affect] 牵动 牽動) Yēhéhuá (Jehovah 耶和华 耶和華) de (’s 的) xīn (heart 心).

For comparison, here is the corresponding English sentence:

And did you know that Jehovah is affected by the way we act?

It seems that this is the first time that “qiāndòng (qiān·dòng {lead along}; pull · {to be moved} → [affect; influence; produce a change] 牵动 牽動)” has appeared in one of the publications recommended by the organization for use on Bible studies. It has been used in official publications to represent how music can move people, and as shown above, it’s good to know as a word that expresses how Jehovah’s heart can be moved by what we do.

“Jehovah Was Holding My Hand”

The “qiān ({lead along (by holding the hand, etc.)}; pull 牵 牽)” in “qiāndòng (qiān·dòng {lead along}; pull · {to be moved} → [affect; influence; produce a change] 牵动 牽動)” means “lead along (by holding the hand, etc.); pull”, and it also appears in the expression “qiānqile (qiān·qi·le {lead along (by holding the hand, etc.)}; pulled · {to be rising → [up]} · {to completion | [indicates a change]} 牵起了 牽起了)”, which is used in the video for lesson 09, point 6 of the Enjoy Life Forever! book:

Screenshot of scene using “qiānqile”, from the video linked to in the _Enjoy Life Forever!_ bk. lesson 09, point 6

📖 📄 📘 Yēhéhuá (Jehovah 耶和华 耶和華) hǎoxiàng (hǎo·xiàng {well → [very much]} · {was like} 好像/象) qiānqile (qiān·qi·le {leading along (by holding the hand, etc.)} · {to be rising → [up]} · [indicates a change] 牵起了 牽起了) wǒ de ((wǒ me 我) (de ’s 的) → [my]) shǒu (hand 手),

The corresponding English text is:

Jehovah was holding my hand,

Moving

After watching the above-mentioned video, you might very well feel moved, and if you can speak Mandarin, you might say:

📖 📄 📘 Wǒ (I 我) tīngdào (tīng·dào heard · {arriving at} 听到 聽到) zhèige (zhèi·ge this · [mw] 这个 這個) jīnglì (jīng·lì {gone through (thing)} · experience → [experience] 经历 經歷) zhīhòu (zhī·hòu ’s · {after (that)} 之后 之後), hěn ({very much} 很) gǎndòng (gǎn·dòng feel · moved 感动 感動).

The “dòng (move [→ [stir | arouse | change; alter]] 动 動)” in “gǎndòng (gǎn·dòng feeling · moved | {make to feel} · {to be moved} 感动 感動)”, used above, is the same one that is used in “qiāndòng (qiān·dòng {lead along}; pull · {to be moved} → [affect; influence; produce a change] 牵动 牽動)”.

This “dòng (move [→ [stir | arouse | change; alter]] 动 動)”, which basically means “move”, also appears in a variety of other Mandarin expressions, such as:

  • tuīdòng (tuī·dòng push · {to be moving} 推动 推動)
  • dòngjī (dòng·jī moving · intention → [motive; motivation; intention] 动机 動機)
  • huódòng (huó·dòng living · moving → [activities] | {to be living → [to be moving]} · {to move} 活动 活動)
  • dòngcí (dòng·cí moving · word → [verb] 动词 動詞)
  • dòngwù (dòng·wù moving · thing → [animal] 动物 動物)
  • yùndòng (yùn·dòng carrying; transporting · moving → [exercising | sports; athletics; exercise | motion; movement | movement; campaign; drive] 运动 運動)
  • zhǔdòng (zhǔ·dòng {(being) master} · moving → [taking the initiative] 主动 主動)

This “dòng (move [→ [stir | arouse | change; alter]] 动 動)” was also discussed in the MEotW post on “hùdòng (hù·dòng mutually; {[(with)] each other} · moving → [interacting; interaction; interactive] 互动 互動)”.

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.