Tag: Writing

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Culture Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

guāngyīn

guāngyīn (guāng·yīn light · {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy) → [shade]} → [time [available]] 光阴 光陰) ← 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.

Light and Shade

This week’s MEotW, “guāngyīn (guāng·yīn light · {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy) → [shade]} → [time [available]] 光阴 光陰)”, comes from the second verse of song 56, which is entitled “Make the Truth Your Own” in English and “Jiāng (Take 将 將) Zhēnlǐ (Zhēn·lǐ True · Reasoning → [the Truth] 真理) Zhēncáng (Zhēn·cáng {to Be Treasured} · {to Be Stored Up} 珍藏) zài (in 在) Xīnli (Xīn·li Heart · Inside 心里 心裡/裏)” in Mandarin:

English:

The effort you make and the time you are spending
In service to God and his Kingdom

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

📖 📄 📘 Nǐ (you 你) bù (not 不)‐cí ({do take your leave from} → [do shrink from] 辞 辭/辤)‐xīnláo (xīn·láo {pungently → [labouriously]} · working 辛劳 辛勞), jìn ({expend to the limit} 尽 盡) quánlì (quán·lì whole · strength 全力) shànyòng (shàn·yòng {(for) good} · {to be using} 善用) guāngyīn (guāng·yīn light · {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy) → [shade]} → [time available] 光阴 光陰),
Nǔlì (Nǔ·lì exert · strength 努力) xuānyáng (xuān·yáng {to declare} · {to raise → [to make known]} 宣扬 宣揚) Wángguó (Wáng·guó King’s · Nation → [Kingdom] 王国 王國) hǎo (good 好) xiāoxi (xiāo·xi disappearing · news → [news] 消息).

Yin and Yang

While “guāng (light | {[is] bare}; {[is] naked} | {[is] used up} | only 光)” is a well-known Mandarin expression that means “light”, the situation with the other morpheme in this week’s MEotW is a little more complicated. “Yīn ({female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} [→ [the moon | covert; concealed; hidden; secret | implicit | negative (electric charge) | [is] overcast; dull; gloomy | shade | [is] sinister; treacherous | of the netherworld | genitalia] 阴 陰/隂)” is now used to effectively mean such common, everyday things as “overcast”, “shade”, or “negative (electric charge, etc.)”, but the meaning of “yīn ({female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} [→ [the moon | covert; concealed; hidden; secret | implicit | negative (electric charge) | [is] overcast; dull; gloomy | shade | [is] sinister; treacherous | of the netherworld | genitalia] 阴 陰/隂)” originally comes from Chinese philosophy—it’s the “yīn ({female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} [→ [the moon | covert; concealed; hidden; secret | implicit | negative (electric charge) | [is] overcast; dull; gloomy | shade | [is] sinister; treacherous | of the netherworld | genitalia] 阴 陰/隂)” in “yīnyáng (yīn·yáng {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} · {positive/active/male principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} [→ [yin and yang; opposites]] 阴阳 陰陽)” (Wikipedia article).

The “yáng ({positive/active/male principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} [→ [sun | solar | open; overt | belonging to this world | positive (electric charge) | male]] 阳 陽)” in “yīnyáng (yīn·yáng {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} · {positive/active/male principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} [→ [yin and yang; opposites]] 阴阳 陰陽)” also appears in “tàiyáng (tài·yáng highest · {positive/active/male principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} → [sun] 太阳 太陽)”, the Mandarin word for “sun”. The examples of this week’s MEotW and of “tàiyáng (tài·yáng highest · {positive/active/male principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} → [sun] 太阳 太陽)” show us how much Chinese philosophy is woven through the Chinese languages like Mandarin, to the extent that it may be practically impossible to completely avoid using in everyday speech words with allusions to Chinese philosophy. Of course, we know that Chinese philosophy as a whole, having originated with mere humans, is inevitably going to clash at least in some ways with God’s truth, but in this linguistic situation, in which people in general hardly ever think of the connections to Chinese philosophy that some everyday Mandarin words have, the organization has decided that it’s acceptable, or at least tolerable, to use a word like “guāngyīn (guāng·yīn light · {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy) → [shade]} → [time [available]] 光阴 光陰)” in the lyrics of one of its songs.

A Distracting “Easter Egg”

In one of those cute “easter egg”-type indulgences connecting visual design with meaning that many seem to enjoy, the Simplified characters for “yīnyáng (yīn·yáng {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} · {positive/active/male principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} [→ [yin and yang; opposites]] 阴阳 陰陽)”, “阴阳”, employ the radicals/character components representing the moon (月) and the sun (日) respectively. This relates to “yīn ({female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} [→ [the moon | covert; concealed; hidden; secret | implicit | negative (electric charge) | [is] overcast; dull; gloomy | shade | [is] sinister; treacherous | of the netherworld | genitalia] 阴 陰/隂)” literally meaning “female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)” and sometimes being used to mean “moon”, and “yáng ({positive/active/male principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} [→ [sun | solar | open; overt | belonging to this world | positive (electric charge) | male]] 阳 陽)” literally meaning “positive/active/male principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)” and sometimes being used to mean “sun”.

To try to be the adult in the room, though, here I need to remind everyone that the way Jehovah created us, the primary focus of human language involves using invisible speech—not visible visual elements—to directly represent meaning. As linguists hold, speech is primary, and writing is secondary. Cute “easter egg”-type indulgences involving the visual designs of some characters may be delightful to some on a mental, “that’s clever” level, but unfortunately, they can and do distract people from the basic linguistic truth that speech is primary, similarly to how visible idols distract people from the basic truth that God is actually a powerful but invisible Spirit, not a physical statue or image.—1 Corinthians 14:8–11.

The Time Available

Anyway, on one level of literalness, “guāngyīn (guāng·yīn light · {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy) → [shade]} → [time [available]] 光阴 光陰)” means “light-shade”. This apparently refers to the alternating lightenings and darkenings of the skies as each day—along with its time—passes. The result is that “guāngyīn (guāng·yīn light · {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy) → [shade]} → [time [available]] 光阴 光陰)” is used to effectively mean “time”, or “time available”. (This may be an echo of the truth spoken of at Genesis 1:14, that God set up “luminaries in the expanse of the heavens” to “serve as signs for seasons and for days and years”.) Regardless of the origin of part of “guāngyīn (guāng·yīn light · {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy) → [shade]} → [time [available]] 光阴 光陰)”, let us be determined to spend well in God’s service whatever time we have available to us. We should especially be careful to do so, since, as dedicated ones, our limited time belongs, not just to ourselves, but to Jehovah.—1 Corinthians 10:31.

In this regard, one thing that we should especially keep in mind as Mandarin field language learners is that the unnecessary, self-indulgent complexities and vagaries of Chinese characters can use up much of our precious available time—which, for us dedicated ones, belongs to Jehovah—if we allow them to. With the above-mentioned linguistic and scriptural information in mind, make sure to only spend whatever time is necessary to spend on Chinese characters, which originated with mere humans and which are imposed merely by tradition. (Hebrews 12:1) Let us focus instead on cultivating God’s gift of speech in the Mandarin field, perhaps with the assistance of the modern, elegant, and efficient Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) writing system.

SVG Technology and Lyrics Links

“guāngyīn” _Pīnyīn_ Plus info, Song 56 (music+_Pīnyīn_), on iPhone 13 mini (landscape orientation)

In the unofficial “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web) language-learning resource, some songs now use SVG technology to enable links (rendered in blue) in the musical notation’s Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) lyrics. When tapped/clicked, these will display Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus “flashcards”. For example, as shown above, this resource’s rendition of song 56, from which this week’s MEotW comes, uses this technology. More such links will gradually be added as time allows.

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.

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.

Categories
Culture Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

quèzáo

quèzáo (què·záo firmly; indeed; truly; really · {[is] chiselled} → [[is] [(shown) to be] conclusive; authentic; irrefutable] 确凿 確鑿) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”. 📖 📄 📘 icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and 📘 Reveal None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

The Shēngmìng Láizì Chuàngzào Ma? ((Shēngmìng Life 生命) (Lái·zì Came · From 来自 來自) (Chuàng·zào Initiating · {Making, Creating} → [Creating] 创造 創造) (Ma [? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)? → [Was Life Created? (lc)]) (Was Life Created? (lc)) brochure and the Shēngmìng de Qǐyuán—Zhíde Sīkǎo de Wǔ Ge Wèntí ((Shēngmìng Life 生命) (de ’s 的) (Qǐ·yuán {Rising → [Starting]} · Source → [Origin] 起源/原)—(Zhí·de Worth · Getting → [Worth] 值得) (Sī·kǎo {Thinking About} · Examining 思考) (de ’s 的) (Wǔ Five 五) (Ge [mw] 个 個/个) (Wèn·tí Asking · Subjects → [Questions] 问题 問題) → [The Origin of Life—Five Questions Worth Asking (lf)]) (The Origin of Life—Five Questions Worth Asking (lf)) brochure were originally published back in 2010, but relatively 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.

Is That a Fact?

Many people today dogmatically declare, “Evolution is not just a theory, it’s a fact, a fact, I say, a fact!”

This week’s MEotW, “quèzáo (què·záo firmly; indeed; truly; really · {[is] chiselled} → [[is] [(shown) to be] conclusive; authentic; irrefutable] 确凿 確鑿)”, can be useful when discussing this subject. It can be seen in use in the last paragraph of section 1 of the Origin of Life brochure, which section is entitled, in English, “How Did Life Begin?”:

English:

Given the facts, are you willing to make such a leap? Before answering that question, take a closer look at the way a cell is made. Doing so will help you discern whether the theories some scientists propound about where life came from are sound or are as fanciful as the tales some parents tell about where babies come from.

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

📖 📄 📘 Kànguo (Kàn·guo {looking at} · {having passed} → [having looked at] 看过 看過) yǐshàng (yǐ·shàng at · above’s 以上) shìshí (shì·shí matters · {being solid} → [facts] 事实 事實) zhīhòu (zhī·hòu it · {after (that)} 之后 之後), nǐ (you 你) xiāngxìn (xiāng·xìn it · {do believe (that)} → [do believe (that)] 相信) shēngmìng (life 生命) shì (was 是) pèngqiǎo (pèng·qiǎo {having bumped into} · {being coincidental} → [by chance] 碰巧) chǎnshēng (chǎn·shēng {given birth to → [produced]} · {given birth to → [caused to exist]} → [brought into being] 产生 產生) de ({’s (thing)} 的) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)? Huídá (Huí·dá {circling back} · {to answer} 回答) zhèige (zhèi·ge this · [mw] 这个 這個) wèntí (wèn·tí asking · subject → [question] 问题 問題) zhīqián (zhī·qián it · {before (that)} 之前), qǐng (please 请 請) zǐxì (zǐ·xì {the young of domestic animals → [with attention to detail]} · {finely → [carefully]} 仔/子细 仔/子細) kànkan (kàn·kan {look at} · {look at} 看看) xìbāo (xì·bāo tiny · womb → [cell] 细胞 細胞) de (’s 的) gòuzào (gòu·zào {constructing → [structure]} · making → [structure] 构造 構造). Zhèyàng (Zhè·yàng this · {form of → [way of]} 这样 這樣) zuò (doing 做) néng (can 能) bāngzhù (help 帮助 幫助) nǐ (you 你) kànchū (kàn·chū see · out 看出), yìxiē (yì·xiē one · {indefinite number of} → [some] 一些) kēxué‐jiā ((kē·xué {branches of study} · learning → [science] 科学 科學)‐(jiā -ists 家) → [scientists]) jiù (regarding 就) shēngmìng (life’s 生命) qǐyuán (qǐ·yuán {rising → [starting]} · source → [origin] 起源/原) tíchū (tí·chū {carry (hanging down from the hand) → [raise] → [refer to]} · out 提出) de (’s 的) lǐlùn (lǐ·lùn reasonings · {discussings → [theories]} → [theories] 理论 理論) jiūjìng (jiū·jìng {studied carefully → [actually]} · {in the end} 究竟) shì (are 是) zhèngjù ({(by) evidence} 证据 證/証據) quèzáo (què·záo firmly · chiselled → [(shown) to be irrefutable] 确凿 確鑿) de ({’s (theories)} 的), háishi (hái·shi {still more → [or]} · are 还是 還是) xiàng (as 像/象) yǒuxiē (yǒu·xiē {(there) are having → [(there) are]} · some 有些) fùmǔ (fù·mǔ fathers · mothers 父母) jiěshì (jiě·shì {untying → [solving]} · explaining 解释 解釋) bǎobao (bǎo·bao treasures · treasures → [precious/darling babies] 宝宝 寶寶) cóng (from 从 從) nǎli (nǎ·li which · inside → [where] 哪里 哪裡/裏) lái (come 来 來) shí ({(particular) times} 时 時) suǒ ({those which (they)} 所) shuō (say 说 說/説) de ({’s (things)} 的) nàyàng (nà·yàng that · {form → [way]} 那样 那樣) méiyǒu (méi·yǒu not · having 没有 沒有) gēnjù (gēn·jù root · evidence → [basis] 根据 根據).

Looking at the morphemes in “quèzáo (què·záo firmly; indeed; truly; really · {[is] chiselled} → [[is] [(shown) to be] conclusive; authentic; irrefutable] 确凿 確鑿)”, “què (firmly; indeed; truly; really 确 確)” can mean “firmly” or “indeed”, and indeed, it appears in the expression “díquè (dí·què {in reality}; truly; really · indeed; truly; really; certainly 的确 的確)”, which means “indeed”. As for “záo (chisel (v or n) 凿 鑿)”, in this context, this expression means “chiselled”. Taken together then, the morphemes in “quèzáo (què·záo firmly; indeed; truly; really · {[is] chiselled} → [[is] [(shown) to be] conclusive; authentic; irrefutable] 确凿 確鑿)” literally mean something like “firmly chiselled”, and are used to effectively mean “[(shown) to be] conclusive; authentic; irrefutable”.

What Is Actually Rock Solid?

While evolution is believed in by many in the world today, the evidence, such as that discussed in the Origin of Life brochure, shows that it is actually creation that is zhèngjù ({(by) evidence} 证据 證/証據) quèzáo (què·záo firmly · chiselled → [(shown) to be irrefutable] 确凿 確鑿) de ({’s (teaching)} 的), rock solid, as if chiselled in stone, firmly.

Similarly, in Mandarin language learning, many, because of the weight of long tradition and much worldly propaganda, believe in prioritizing Chinese characters, but it’s actually the modern linguistic principle that speech is primary, and writing is secondary that is zhèngjù ({(by) evidence} 证据 證/証據) quèzáo (què·záo firmly · chiselled → [(shown) to be irrefutable] 确凿 確鑿) de ({’s (teaching)} 的), by evidence from both modern linguistics and God’s Word itself.

For example, on their podcast called Lingthusiasm, linguists Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch said:

Lauren: I think that is one of the things that makes it really hard for people who grow up in highly literate, highly educated societies to tease writing and reading apart from language. But actually, when you step back, you realise that writing is actually super weird.

Gretchen: It’s so weird! It’s this interesting – it really is a technology. It’s a thing you do on top of language to do stuff with language, but it’s not the language itself. There are thousands and possibly millions of languages that have never been written down in the history of humanity. We have no idea. We’ve never met a society of humans, or heard of a society of humans, without language. But those are spoken and signed languages, which are just kind of there. Writing, by contrast, was invented somewhere between 3 and 4 times in the history of humanity.

Of course, in keeping with the rock solid, evidence-based Bible teaching that God created us, rather than saying that spoken languages “are just kind of there”, we would say that God purposely created us to primarily use language through his gift of speech. It’s not surprising then, that God’s Word the Bible contains the following passage at 1 Corinthians 14:8–11, which emphasizes the primary importance of understandable speech, while not bothering to even mention the mere human invention of writing:

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, 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.

For convenience:

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

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Origin of Life brochure is:

More Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material based on the Mandarin Origin of Life brochure will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.