Tag: Usage Examples

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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 Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

cì’ěr

cì’ěr (cì’·ěr {stabs; pricks → [irritates; pierces]} · ear → [grating on the ear; jarring; ear-piercing] 刺耳) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

I have long especially liked 1 Corinthians 13. It contains counsel on what really does and doesn’t matter in life, an extensive description and definition of the most important kind of love, and a sublime discussion about the need to become complete, mature, as a person. As these apply to life in general, so too do they apply to our lives as Mandarin field language learners.

As Mandarin field language learners, it can benefit us greatly to consider what we can learn from 1 Corinthians 13, and along the way, we can also consider some of the Mandarin expressions used in that chapter in the current version of the Mandarin New World Translation Bible (nwtsty).

“Clashing”

This week’s MEotW, “cì’ěr (cì’·ěr {stabs; pricks → [irritates; pierces]} · ear → [grating on the ear; jarring; ear-piercing] 刺耳)”, occurs in verse 1 (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus) of 1 Corinthians 13:

Screenshot of “cì’ěr” in 1 Co. 13:1 (nwtsty, CHS+_Pīnyīn_ WOL)

(Dark mode for the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY (WOL) website, as shown in the above image, can be enabled in the Safari web browser by using the Noir Safari extension.)

“Cì’ěr (Cì’·ěr {stabs; pricks → [irritates; pierces]} · ear → [grating on the ear; jarring; ear-piercing] 刺耳)” literally means “stabs ear”, and is used in the Mandarin New World Translation Bible’s rendering of 1 Corinthians 13:1 to translate the “clashing” in “clashing cymbal”. In this context, “cì’ěr (cì’·ěr {stabs; pricks → [irritates; pierces]} · ear → [grating on the ear; jarring; ear-piercing] 刺耳)” effectively means “grating on the ear; jarring; ear-piercing”.

Mandarin Field Need-Greater? Or Ear-Grater 😬?

First, let me establish that of course Jehovah and we who are in the Mandarin field deeply appreciate those who have been moved by love to come and try to learn Mandarin and help out in the Mandarin field. Given that, sometimes things do happen that can literally and figuratively grate on the ears of those who truly serve in this field out of love, and who have become acquainted with what good Mandarin sounds like.

The Tone Beast…

One time, a brother I know whose mother tongue is English gave a Mandarin talk during which so many of his tones were off that at times I was genuinely having trouble making out what words he was saying, even when I was listening closely. After that meeting, when I tried to kindly advise him that this was the case, he jokingly quipped something like ‘Well, at least I made you listen closely!’

Maybe this brother really did try his best, and maybe his reply was just an attempt to lighten the mood with some humour. He may also have felt safe using some humour because we know each other and generally get along fairly well. However, his words in this case might also be taken to show that he took his responsibility to give a good Mandarin talk a bit lightly. If so, things said with such a flippant attitude could grate on the ears of someone who views with appropriate seriousness the God-honouring and life-saving work that needs to be done in the Mandarin field.

It is true that especially for those whose mother tongue is, say, English, the tones can be one of the most difficult aspects of Mandarin for them to master, since that way of using pitch (how high or low a “note” is) is so different from how they use pitch in English. The sincere efforts of Mandarin field language learners in this regard are much appreciated!

…And How to Tame It

For those of us who are trying to learn Mandarin for the Mandarin field, it should help if we keep the following points in mind regarding Mandarin tones:

  • Tones are just as important to conveying meaning in Mandarin as vowels are to conveying meaning in English. In English, if someone says a wrong vowel, that person is not actually saying the word that person meant to say, and that person is not expressing the meaning that person meant to express. For example, there’s a world of difference between “I love you” and “I leave you”, even though it’s “only” the matter of a single vowel. Similarly, in Mandarin, if someone uses a wrong tone, that person is saying a whole different word from what that person meant to say, as shown by the classic example of “mā (ma; mom; mummy; mother 妈 媽)/má (hemp; flax; linen | (surname) | {[is] pocked; pockmarked; pitted; spotty} [→ [[is] rough; coarse]] | numbed; tingling | sesame 麻 麻/蔴)/mǎ (horse [(surname)] [→ [knight chess piece; horse piece in Chinese chess | [is] big; large]] 马 馬)/mà ({verally abuse}; curse; swear; {call names} [→ [condemn; rebuke; reprove; scold]] 骂 罵/駡)/ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)”.
  • In languages like English, we may change the pitch of what we are saying to do things like add emphasis, ask a question, etc. In Mandarin, though, as explained above, the tone of a syllable—which involves how pitch is used while saying it—is an essential part of how that syllable represents meaning. So, while in English the way we use pitch while saying a word may be negotiable based on how we want to emphasize it, etc., in Mandarin, tones are non-negotiable, like our stand on blood transfusions is non-negotiable. A first tone, for example, must always be recognizable as a first tone and must not be changed into a fourth tone or something, no matter how much we want to emphasize a Mandarin word with a first tone in it!
    • How can we add emphasis in Mandarin, then? Study 10 of the Teaching (th) brocure, entitled “Modulation”, tells us that ‘we can convey ideas clearly and stir emotion by varying our volume, pitch, and pace’. So, while the pitches of Mandarin tones are non-negotiable, we can still add emphasis in Mandarin by varying volume—by speaking softer or louder—and/or by varying pace—by speaking slower or faster.
  • Wrong tones can be really cì’ěr (cì’·ěr {stabbing → [irritating]} · ear → [grating on the ear] 刺耳) because, as mentioned above, tones are made of pitch, and when one speaks with wrong pitches, it’s a lot like singing off-key—very grating to the ears of those who know how the music of the language should sound! 🎵

With the above points in mind, do the following:

  • Practise recognizing the different tones and telling them apart when listening to Mandarin speech. This is especially important if you have just recently started to learn Mandarin, and are not used to what Mandarin tones sound like yet. Such practice is needed to gradually train your hearing. As it is with determining if a musical instrument is in tune or not, eventually, with focus and practice, recognizing Mandarin tones will become easier, even second nature.
    • As you get better at being able to recognize good Mandarin tones when you hear them, that will in turn help you to make sure you speak with good Mandarin tones. Speaking of which…
  • Practise speaking with correct Mandarin tones. This is also especially important if you have just recently started to learn Mandarin, and are not used to speaking with Mandarin tones yet. Such practice is needed to gradually train your body’s system for producing speech. Beware: If you let yourself get into bad habits early on involving the tones, then you’ll have to walk a long, hard road to get rid of these bad habits later. As it is with playing a musical instrument well, eventually, with focus, study, and practice, speaking with correct Mandarin tones will become easier, even second nature. 🎸

The Cantonese Twist

As discussed in the MEotW post on “fāngyán (fāng·yán {direction → [place]} · speech → [topolect; dialect (common but misleading translation)] 方言)”, to those who know Mandarin well, Cantonese that is twisted to try to make it sound like Mandarin sounds awful:

Well, as someone who along with many others has come to the Mandarin field from the Cantonese field, I have had the dubious pleasure of observing how some have tried to speak Mandarin by just taking the Cantonese they knew and twisting it a little, since they were relying on the conventional wisdom that Mandarin and Cantonese are just different dialects of the same language. As well-meaning as they may have been, the results were often just as bad as when someone sings badly off-key, or as Star Trek fans may say, they often sounded like the language equivalent of a transporter accident 🙀. Even after decades in the Mandarin field, some publishers who had come over from the Cantonese field still say some Mandarin words with Cantonese-y pronunciations.

Any Cantonese-speakers who help out in the Mandarin field are very much appreciated, but it would be good for everyone involved if they realized that, contrary to worldly political propaganda, Mandarin and Cantonese are not just different dialects of the same Chinese language. Rather, as linguists recognize, Mandarin and Cantonese, being mutually unintelligible, are really different languages, like French and English are different languages. So, we should all understand and expect that as different languages, Mandarin and Cantonese have different phonologies. That is, they basically sound different, not just like slightly twisted versions of each other. Some, in fact, have compared how different Mandarin and Cantonese sound to how different chickens and ducks sound.

Avoiding Being “a Clashing Cymbal”

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a clanging gong or a clashing cymbal.
—1 Corinthians 13:1.

Chinese people are known for being very appreciative of Westerners who try to speak Mandarin or one of the other Chinese languages, and for often praising the spoken results of such efforts as being much better than they actually are. Beginning Chinese language learners especially are often given lots of leeway when it comes to how they sound.

After a few years or even decades, though, does our Mandarin speech, for example, still sound not much better than it did when we started learning Mandarin? Some have observed that those who focus on Chinese characters and pay relatively little attention to Mandarin speech often—unsurprisingly—don’t speak Mandarin very well. Some may say that their focusing on Chinese characters shows their love for Chinese culture, but is it not more important for Christians especially to show love for Chinese people by learning to actually understand what they say and learning to speak to them understandably? And as Witnesses of Jehovah, is it not more important to show love for Jehovah by being able to speak clearly, understandably, and movingly in Mandarin about him and the good news of his Kingdom?

While a lot of leeway is rightly given to beginning Mandarin language leaners, one not progressing after learning Mandarin for a long time might in some cases give at least the impression of a lack of caring, a lack of love on the part of that one. (Hebrews 5:12) As humans, we can often tell if something has not been made, done, or said lovingly, with care, for example, if not much attention to “details” like tones is evident. On the other hand, even if some music is performed or something is said in a way that may show only a modest amount of skill or talent, but that does show a lot of love, people often appreciate that more than if one is displaying great skill or talent, but is only doing so to show off or something. Such a one would indeed seem like “a clanging gong or a clashing cymbal”, or, as the Mandarin NWT Bible says, a “chǎonào ({(disturbing by) making noise} 吵闹 吵鬧) de (’s 的) luó (gong 锣 鑼), cì’ěr (cì’·ěr {stabbing → [irritating]} · ear → [grating on the ear] 刺耳) de (’s 的) bó (cymbal 钹 鈸)”.—1 Corinthians 13:1 (English, Mandarin).

Categories
Culture History Science Technology Theocratic

chuàngzào

chuàngzào (chuàng·zào initiating · {making, creating} → [creating | creation; innovation] 创造 創造) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

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.

How It Started

This week’s MEotW, which appears right in the title of the Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure, is “chuàngzào (chuàng·zào initiating · {making, creating} → [creating | creation; innovation] 创造 創造)”. While this is basically a verb meaning “create”, it can also be used as a noun meaning “creation”. Such verbal/gerundial nouns were discussed in the MEotW post on “jiàodǎo (jiào·dǎo teaching · {guiding [→ [instructing]]} 教导 教導)”:

One interesting thing to note about “jiàodǎo (jiào·dǎo teaching · {guiding [→ [instructing]]} 教导 教導)” (and about “jiàoxun (teaching → [reprimanding | knowledge gained from an error] 教训 教訓)”, for that matter) is that their component morphemes seem to basically be verbs. In certain contexts, however, they are used as nouns. An example of this being done in English is that “teach” and “teaching” are verbs (e.g. “Jesus was teaching the crowd.”), but in certain contexts, “teaching” is used as a noun (e.g. “The crowd was amazed at the teaching Jesus shared with them.”). When a word is used this way, it’s called a verbal noun, or a gerundial noun. Verbal nouns are quite common in Mandarin.

How It Breaks Down

The “chuàng (initiate; create; start; originate; {achieve (sth. for the first time)} 创 創/刱/剏/剙)” in “chuàngzào (chuàng·zào initiating · {making, creating} → [creating | creation; innovation] 创造 創造)” is also used in “Chuàngshìjì (Chuàng·shì·jì {Initiating, Creating of} · {Generation → [World]} · Record → [Genesis] 创世记 創世記)”, and is associated with originality and creativity. For example, this “chuàng (initiate; create; start; originate; {achieve (sth. for the first time)} 创 創/刱/剏/剙)” also occurs in “chuàngzuò (chuàng·zuò initiated; created; originated · {made [→ [written/composed]]} [(thing)] [→ [created; produced; written [(thing)]] [→ [creative work; creation]]] 创作 創作)” and in “chuàngzuò lì ((chuàng·zuò {to initiate/create/originate} · {to make [→ [to write/compose]]} → [to create/produce/write] 创作 創作) (lì power → [ability] 力) → [creative ability; creativity; originality])”, which can respectively mean “creative work” and “creativity”.

As for the “zào (make; build; create 造)” in “chuàngzào (chuàng·zào initiating · {making, creating} → [creating | creation; innovation] 创造 創造)”, it’s more associated with making and building, and it’s the same “zào (make; build; create 造)” that’s in “jiànzào (construct; build 建造)”. “Jiànzào (build 建造) fángwū (houses 房屋)”, for example, means “build houses”.

How It Comes Together

So, “chuàngzào (chuàng·zào initiating · {making, creating} → [creating | creation; innovation] 创造 創造)”, being made up of “chuàng (initiate; create; start; originate; {achieve (sth. for the first time)} 创 創/刱/剏/剙)” and “zào (make; build; create 造)”, covers the entire process of coming up with the idea for something, and then actually making or building it. This is in contrast with the idea of theistic evolution, that God somehow got the ball rolling and then sat back and let the process of evolution develop all the wonderful living things in the natural world.

One person in particular whom I remember having such a viewpoint was my grade 7 teacher, who was actually quite smug about how her Catholic/personal beliefs had thus seemingly neatly reconciled the contradictions between the worldly “scientific” theory of evolution and the creation account in the Bible book of Genesis. However, the actual wording of the Genesis account, including how it is often translated into Mandarin, does not really go along with such a seemingly neat reconciliation with evolution.—Genesis 1:27 (English WOL, Mandarin WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus).

“_Chuàngzào_” in Genesis 1:27 (NWT (nwtsty), WOL CHS+Pinyin), with “_zào_” in _Héhé Běn_

To represent how God caused humans to come into existence, the Mandarin New World Translation Bible uses “chuàngzào (chuàng·zào initiated · {made, created} → [created] 创造 創造)”, and the Héhé Běn ((Hé·hé Harmonious · {Closed → [United]} 和合) (Běn {Root or Stem} → [Edition] 本) → [Union Version (Chinese Bible)]) uses “zào (made; built; created 造)”. Both these expressions contain the sense of “made, created”, and perhaps “built”.

How the Py+ Material Is Going

A while ago, I got the feeling that I should shift focus to get to work on producing current-generation Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material for the Was Life Created? brochure, which I had last produced older-style material for several years earlier. The official material for this brochure had also not been changed for several years, with the last Mandarin printing of it being dated 2016-12.

However, not long after I had started working on new Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material for this brochure, I noticed that a new printing, dated 2022-12, had been put out for the English version of the Was Life Created? brochure, and then, a new printing, dated 2023-02, appeared in the JW Library app for the Mandarin version of this brochure. Also, the Was Life Created? brochure and the Origin of Life brochure were added to the Teaching Toolbox section in the JW Library app at around this time. It seems that Jehovah had decided that the time had come for renewed focus on these brochures, and it seems that the work of producing Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material for the Was Life Created? brochure is privileged to be part of this renewed focus.

At the time of this writing, the old 3-line files (iPad-Letter-A4, XLP-iPhone-A5) together with the new Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource cover the entire Was Life Created? brochure. (The 3-line files were based on an older version of the brochure, though.) Also, the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource (which can be used offline in supporting browsers) contains no more Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)-only material that has only been partially proofread—all the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)-only material has now been fully proofread.

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. Work is now underway to produce a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource for the Mandarin Origin of Life brochure as well.