Tag: Usage Examples

Categories
Current Events Science Technology Theocratic

réngōng zhìnéng

réngōng (rén·gōng human · work → [artificial] 人工)
zhìnéng (zhì·néng intelligence · ability → [intelligence] 智能) ← 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.]

At the time of this writing, jw.org was featuring the article “Artificial Intelligence—A Blessing or a Curse?—What Does the Bible Say?”. Where the English version of this article uses the expression “artificial intelligence”, the Mandarin version uses this week’s MEotW, “réngōng (rén·gōng human · work → [artificial] 人工) zhìnéng (zhì·néng intelligence · ability → [intelligence] 智能)”:

English:

Recently, world leaders, scientists, and technologists have commented on the power of artificial intelligence (AI). While acknowledging its value, they have also expressed concern over its potential misuse.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Jìnqī (Jìn·qī {near → [recent]} · {period of time} → [recently] 近期), xǔduō (xǔ·duō numbers · many 许多 許多) guójiā (guó·jiā nation · family → [national] 国家 國家) lǐngdǎorén (lǐngdǎo·rén leading · persons → [leaders] 领导人 領導人), kēxuéjiā (kē·xué·jiā {{branches of study} · learning → [science]} · -ists → [scientists] 科学家 科學家), yǐjí (and 以及) kējì (kē·jì {branches of study → [science]} · {skills → [technology]} → [technology] 科技) jīngyīng (jīng·yīng elite · {flowers → [outstanding persons]} → [elite] 精英) dōu ({all of them} 都) duì (towards 对 對) réngōng (rén·gōng human · work → [artificial] 人工) zhìnéng (zhì·néng intelligence · ability → [intelligence] 智能) (AI) de (’s 的) yòngtú (yòng·tú {to be used} · routes → [applications] 用途) shēn (deeply 深) biǎo ({have expressed} 表) guānzhù (guān·zhù {closing with (them) → [being concerned about (them)]} · {pouring into (them) → [concentrating on (them)]} → [paying close attention to (them)] 关注 關注). Suīrán (Suī·rán although · -ly 虽然 雖然) tāmen (tā·men he/she · [pl] → [they] 他们 他們) dōu (all 都) zàntóng (zàn·tóng favour · {are with} → [approve of] 赞同 贊/讚同) réngōng (rén·gōng human · work → [artificial] 人工) zhìnéng (zhì·néng intelligence · ability → [intelligence] 智能) yǒu (having 有) hěn (very 很) duō (many 多) yìchu (yì·chu beneficial · places → [benefits] 益处 益處), dàn (however 但) yě ((they) also 也) hěn ({very much} 很) dānxīn (dān·xīn {carry on shoulder poles → [bear (heavy)]} · hearts → [worry] 担/耽心 擔/耽心) zhèi (this 这 這) xiàng ({item of} 项 項) kējì (kē·jì {branches of study → [science]} · {skills → [technology]} → [technology] 科技) huì (will 会 會) bèi ([passive signifier] → [be] 被) lànyòng (làn·yòng {overflowingly → [indiscriminately]} · used → [misused] 滥用 濫用).

Related Expressions

The “zhìnéng (zhì·néng wisdom; knowledge; intelligence; resourcefulness; wit; cleverness · ability → [intelligence; intellectual power/ability | smart(phone, etc.)] 智能)” in “réngōng (rén·gōng human · work → [artificial] 人工) zhìnéng (zhì·néng intelligence · ability → [intelligence] 智能)” also appears in “zhìnéng shǒujī ((zhì·néng intelligence · ability → [smart] 智能) (shǒu·jī hand · machine → [mobile phone] 手机 手機) → [smartphone])”, which is used in China to mean “smartphone”. As pointed out by the Referenced Theo. Expressions (RTE) resource, this expression appears in the November 2009 issue of Awake! magazine, on page 3.

It’s also noteworthy that the “zhì (wisdom; knowledge; intelligence; resourcefulness; wit; cleverness 智)” in “réngōng (rén·gōng human · work → [artificial] 人工) zhìnéng (zhì·néng intelligence · ability → [intelligence] 智能)” appears in “zhìhuì (zhì·huì wisdom · intelligence → [wisdom] 智慧)”, the Mandarin word for “wisdom”. It also appears in “zhōngxìn (zhōng·xìn faithful · {believing → [having faith]} → [faithful] 忠信) ruìzhì (ruì·zhì {having foresight} · {(having) wisdom} 睿智) de (’s 的) núlì (slave 奴隶 奴隸)”, the Mandarin expression for “faithful and discreet slave”.—Matthew 24:45 (English; Mandarin).

A Beginning? Or Not?

Regarding intelligence, artificial or otherwise, it’s illuminating to consider these verses in Proverbs:

The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge.
Only fools despise wisdom and discipline.
—Proverbs 1:7

The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom,
And knowledge of the Most Holy One is understanding.
—Proverbs 9:10

To show true knowledge and wisdom—and indeed, intelligence—in life, we need to consider all the factors that are relevant in life, and we especially need to not have insufficient regard for the biggest, most relevant factor of all in life—Jehovah God, who created human intelligence (which was perfect in the first human couple, but which that couple caused to become imperfect and corrupted). Humans who do not have fear of (or “reverence for”, as per the footnote for Pr. 1:7) Jehovah—the Creator of human life and human intelligence—do not even begin to have true knowledge or wisdom, and thus are not equipped to develop artificial intelligence with true knowledge or wisdom.

Indeed, while humans can now store, read, and perform some basic processes on data, even huge amounts of data, human researchers have limited understanding about, and disagree about, how a system like the human brain or an artificial intelligence system can truly—not just appear to—know or understand something, or have wisdom (scientific paper, Medium article) about something. This may help to partly explain why a significant percentage of the time, current artificial intelligence systems output incorrect statements with complete confidence, as if they were true.

Yes, while many are now fascinated by, and/or concerned about, the increasing power of artificial intelligence, people should be focusing first on Jehovah God’s divine intelligence, the most powerful intelligence in the entire universe, that thankfully is motivated by love, guided by wisdom, and dedicated to justice.—1 John 4:8; Romans 11:33; Deuteronomy 32: 3, 4.

Categories
Culture History Theocratic

Shàngtiān

Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven [→ [God]]} → [Heaven; Providence; God] 上天) ← 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.]

At the time of this writing, jw.org was featuring an invitation to attend an “Exercise Patience”! 2023 convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In one of the places where the English version of this invitation uses the word “God”, the Mandarin version uses this week’s MEotW, “Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven [→ [God]]} → [Heaven; Providence; God] 上天)”, which literally means “Above’s Heaven”:

“Shàngtiān” used on jw.org, on the page inviting people to attend the 2023 convention

English:

If you pray to God for help, what can you expect?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Nǐ ((if) you 你) xiàng (to 向 向/曏/嚮) Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven → [God]} → [God] 上天) qiúzhù (qiú·zhù request · {helping → [help]} 求助), tā (he 他) huì (will 会 會) bāngzhù (help 帮助 幫助) nǐ (you 你) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)?

Note that this jw.org web page uses the personal pronoun “tā (he 他)” (“he”) to refer to “Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven → [God]} → [God] 上天)”, showing that “Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven → [God]} → [God] 上天)” here refers to a person, not to an abstract concept or to a place like heaven. Also, the wording shown in the above screenshot indicates that “Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven → [God]} → [God] 上天)” here refers to “Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝)”, that is, God.

Addressing People Who Don’t Know God Well

Note also that this web page written using Chinese characters and invitating people to the convention is largely directed towards the Chinese people of the world, who may know God only as an abstract concept, and not so much as a person.

Another example of official material that uses “Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven [→ [God]]} → [Heaven; Providence; God] 上天)” when addressing someone who did not know God well is the Mandarin New World Translation Bible’s rendering of Daniel’s words to Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:26:

“Shàngtiān” in Daniel 4:26 (NWT (nwtsty), WOL CHS+Pinyin)

Here, “Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven [→ [God]]} → [Heaven; Providence; God] 上天)” corresponds with the English expression “the heavens” in the phrase “after you come to know that the heavens are ruling”.—Daniel 4:26 (English).

The Chinese People’s View of God Over Time

As mentioned in the MEotW post on “Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝)”:

The Lasting Peace brochure has a box explaining how the concept of Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝) has been viewed in China throughout its history.

Here is a quote from that box that relates how the Chinese came to view the “Tiān (Heaven [→ [God]] 天)” in “Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven [→ [God]]} → [Heaven; Providence; God] 上天)”, and how that affected their understanding of Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝):

…according to Chinese historical records, between three and four thousand years ago, during the Xia and Shang dynasties, the Chinese were already worshipping one supreme deity. The book The Religious History of China explains that they “reckoned that between heaven and earth there was a principal God who stood supreme and had absolute control over all things. . . . This supreme deity came to be called Di, or Shang-di, during the Shang Dynasty, and was known as Tien [heaven], or Tien-di [Emperor in Heaven], during the Zhou Dynasty [11th century to 256 B.C.E.].” Thus, the ancient Chinese believed in the existence of a Supreme Sovereign of the universe.

During the Spring and Autumn period (c. 722-481 B.C.E.) and the Warring States period (c. 480-221 B.C.E.), Confucianism and Taoism gained ascendancy. Influenced by these two schools of thought, the worship of Shang-di was gradually replaced by the abstract idea of reverence for Tien. By the Han dynasty (202 B.C.E.–221 C.E.), under the dominance of Confucianism, the Chinese became engrossed in moral culture and social order, and the concept of Shang-di suffered another setback. With the spread of Buddhism into China, the Chinese no longer held to the belief of a Creator who is in control of the universe, but they accepted Heaven, or Providence, as the first cause of all things. Since then, the concept of God, or Shang-di, has become something completely foreign to most Chinese.

Since Chinese people in the world have this historical and cultural background that stretches back for millennia, it is understandable why the organization uses “Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven → [God]} → [God] 上天)” to refer to God when addressing them. Perhaps we can think of “Shàngtiān (Shàng·tiān Above’s · {Heaven → [God]} → [God] 上天)” as an acceptable stepping stone between the impersonal “Tiān (Heaven [→ [God]] 天)” and “Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝)”. Hopefully, we will be able to help many more Chinese people to get to know and appreciate Jehovah God as a person, and to eventually get accustomed to referring to him as “Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝)”, and as “Yēhéhuá (Jehovah 耶和华 耶和華)”.

Categories
Technology Theocratic

shěnpàn

shěnpàn (shěn·pàn trying · judging [→ [judgment]] 审判 審判) ← 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 Mandarin version of the New World Translation Bible was recently revised, and the current version (Study Edition (nwtsty)) is now dated 2023.

Since we base what we say in Jehovah’s service on his Word the Bible, the vocabulary used in it—and the way those vocabulary words are translated—should be reflected in how we speak in our ministry, at our meetings, etc. So, it is beneficial for us Mandarin field language learners to be familiar with the latest thinking from the organization on how Bible terms should be translated into Mandarin.

“A Resurrection of Judgment”

As the September 2022 Watchtower explains, upon further study and consideration, Jehovah’s organization has adjusted its understanding of John 5:29 (English, Mandarin):

What about those who practiced vile things before they died? Although their sins were canceled at death, they have not established a record of faithfulness. They do not have their names written in the book of life. Hence, the resurrection of “those who practiced vile things” is the same as the resurrection of “the unrighteous” referred to at Acts 24:15. Theirs will be “a resurrection of judgment.”* The unrighteous will be judged in the sense that they will be evaluated. (Luke 22:30) It will take time to determine whether they are judged worthy of having their names written in the book of life. Only if these unrighteous ones reject their former wicked course of life and dedicate themselves to Jehovah can they have their names written in the book of life.

The footnote for the above paragraph provides further commentary about how the organization now understands “judgment”, as used in John 5:29:

Previously, we explained that the term “judgment” used here means a negative judgment, or a verdict of condemnation. Actually, the word “judgment” may have that meaning. But in this context, it seems that Jesus used the word “judgment” in a more general sense, referring to a process of evaluation and probation or, as one Greek lexicon says, a “scrutiny of conduct.”

To harmonize with this revised understanding, the current 2023 version of the Mandarin NWT Bible now has new wording for John 5:29:

John 5:29 (WOL CHS+Pinyin Parallel Translations)

(The current wording in the 2023 version is on the left; the old wording is on the right. 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.)

Here is the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus rendering of the new wording for John 5:29 in Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 jiù (then 就) chūlai (chū·lai {come out} · {to come} 出来 出來). Xíngshàn (Xíng·shàn {walked → [did]} · {good deeds} 行善) de ({’ (persons)} 的), fùhuó (fù·huó {will be turned around → [will be restored]} · {to be living} → [will be resurrected] 复活 復活) dédào (dé·dào {to get} · {arriving at} 得到) shēngmìng (life 生命); zuò’è (zuò’·è did · evil 作恶 作惡) de ({’s (persons)} 的), fùhuó (fù·huó {will be turned around → [will be restored]} · {to be living} → [will be resurrected] 复活 復活) jiēshòu (jiē·shòu {to come into contact with → [to receive]} · {to receive} → [to receive] 接受) shěnpàn (shěn·pàn trying · judging → [judgment] 审判 審判).

The NWT Bible (nwtsty) (Pīnyīn Plus, Web) resource has been revised to match the 2023 official Mandarin version of the NWT on the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY. The above Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material can be found here on the NWT Bible (nwtsty) (Pīnyīn Plus, Web) resource.

“Judgment” in Mandarin

Comparing the new Mandarin wording for John 5:29 shown above to the old wording, we can see that the new wording no longer uses “zhōng ({(in the) end} 终 終)”. Also, instead of “dìngzuì (dìng·zuì decided · {(to be having) guilt} 定罪)”, the word now used in the 2023 version of the Mandarin NWT to translate “judgment” in John 5:29 is this week’s MEotW, “shěnpàn (shěn·pàn trying · judging → [judgment] 审判 審判)”. This accords with the new explanation in the above-mentioned Watchtower that the meaning of John 5:29 is that “the unrighteous [who had “practiced vile things” before they died] will be judged in the sense that they will be evaluated”. This is in contrast to the old view of this verse meaning that the unrighteous will end up being condemned as being guilty because of bad things they do after they get resurrected.