Subject:  	Re: a thought about Jiku-shiru
Date: 	Sun, 23 Feb 1997 22:09:36 -0600 (CST)
From: 	Scott Johnson 


On Sun, 23 Feb 1997, David Melik wrote:

> One thing I noticed, in my last post I said "Jiku-shirese", "shirese" is
> sort of like "shire", and if the original people were halflings.  Where
> halflings live, they seem to organize themselves into shires.  Shiru could
> be the word shire changed over time, and Jiku could be what they call
> themselves, so maybe it would be called "Peoples Shires" jik could be
> person, shir could be shire, "u" could indicate plural. (Since halflings
> name their shires, it could have another meaning like jiku could be "sun"
> for "shires of the sun", someone with an appropriate dictionary could figure
> this out.)  Maybe there could be all sorts of other shiru throughout
> Jiku-Shiru.  Then when other people arrived, they called it what the locals
> called it (but maybe we want the name to have to do with the hero and
> emperor story,or something else entirely).  I don't know if "shire" would be
> considered an Occidental or purely halfling word on Mystara, I guess whether
> this is used or not may depend on where and when these halflings migrated
> from (which I don't recall).  I don't know much about Oriental languages,
> but there's my 2 cents on what it could mean.  Ultimately I guess the
> Jiku-Shiru group (whoever they are, please let us know) will decide or
> compile different meanings and let us vote.

You know, that's not a bad idea at all.  I've been working off of strictly
the real Japanese language, but it makes sense that with Hinu influence
and the like, Jikushirugo ('-go' means 'language' in Japanese - for
instance, the real Japanese language is called 'Nihongo,' 'the language of
Nihon') would be a little different.  And I see a way this could be worked
in. 

Basically, in the early history of Japan, it was divided into many small
nations - most of them no more than a single village - called 'uji.' Some
were Ainu, and others were later immigrants from the continent.  Most were
based around the worship of a single patron spirit - an ancestor, the
spirit of a great natural feature, a local hero, or some such - called a
'kami,' and political and religious leadership were largely the same
thing. A few uji managed to conquer other uji and make a slightly larger
nation out of them, but Japan's mountainous terrain encouraged isolation
between them.  However, eventually, an uji based around the sun kami,
Amaterasu, managed to gain serious headway at conquering the surrounding
uji, and eventually expanded into an empire.  The Ainu, as a different
ethnic group and traditional enemies of the Japanese, were forced
northwards, to Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, and the ruling
line of the conquering uji became the Imperial line of Japan. 

Now, put this in Mystaran terms.  The Hinu were the first natives of
Jikushiru, and called their settlements Shiru, their dialect's version of
Shire or Shires.  (As a note, the Japanese language doesn't really have
plurals - there exist plural suffixes to be used when needed, but they
aren't exactly like English plural suffixes, and aren't used as much.)
Later, immigrants from MKorea and MManchuria arrived and settled among
them, adopting the Hinu word to name their villages and nations.  Some
shiru were male-dominated, while others were female-dominated, varying by
the shiru's history and needs, among other factors.  Finally, (perhaps
shortly before the rise of the First Empress), refugees from Cheung-Eun
founded a few shiru, bringing with them such things as the influences of
Cheung-Eun's building styles and philosophy, the Cheung-Eun written
language (which would first be adopted for writing in Jikushirugo,
then later adapted and simplified in parts for a more phonetic system)
and, perhaps, the wrath of the Cheung-Eun Dragon Emperor, who was only
stopped by the First Empress, Himiko, who united the shiru and used her
great blessings from the Immortals, along with the Three Imperial
Treasures (a sword, a mirror, and a spherical gem) in the defense of the
land, striking down the invaders from Cheung-Eun, and finally duelling
the Dragon Emperor, who at that time was of the Austere Pale House of Ice
(a white dragon or similar) in an epic battle lasting five days before
casting him, defeated, into the great volcano (MMt. Fuji) and chilling the
land for all time to come.

(Just as a reference: the Japanese written system is three alphabets: the
kanji, Chinese ideograms that represent words but are completely
non-phonetic, and the hiragana and katakana, two purely phonetic alphabets
derived from simplifications of the kanji.  Some uji were, in fact,
female-dominated - in fact, some speculate that as many as half were.
Even once the imperial line was established, there was still an occasional
tendancy to put Empresses on the throne when prudence or politics decided
there was no fitting Emperor.  There really was a legendary high priestess
of ancient Japan named Himiko, who may be related to the imperal line that
was founded a few generations later.  There wasn't really a single
dramatic First Emperor who united Japan, but this is Mystara, and a single
dramatic event seems more appropriate than a slow, gradual expansion -
though we can have that too, as Himiko's descendants unified the parts of
Jikushiru that she did not.  Also, it might be appropriate for Himiko to
have ascended to Immortality, on the path of the Dynast, or perhaps the
Epic Hero, and become the patron Immortal of Jikushiru and center of the
MShinto religion, only to see the legends become confused, and claim that
Himiko was a cleric of the Immortal she eventually became - all the better
to support legendary pride in this Immortal, after all.  And the Three
Imperial Treasures do exist, given to the forefathers of the Imperial
line when the kami sent a hero down to found it.)

Looking through my dictionary and kanji dictionary, the only single kanji
with the pronunciation of 'jiku' means, as has been mentioned before,
'center' or 'axis.'  I disliked the idea when it was first suggested, but
I think that was primarily because we were having 'shiru' be the
infinitive form of a verb.  With 'shiru' meaning 'town/kingdom/household,'
it makes perfect sense - the original shiru that Himiko was queen of was
merely one of the most central ones in a local grouping, and perhaps the
one through which trade between shiru passed - the 'axis town' or 'central
town,' if you would.  As it expanded, it simply kept the name, and ended
up applying it to the entire island (or perhaps islands - I wonder, would
it be appropriate to assume the classic Old Nithian Map had a
cartographer's error, showing one island instead of a few?  Jikushiru
would work either way, it's just a thought.)

And as for a better name than 'Jikushiruese?' 'Jikushirujin.'  '-jin'
means 'people' in the same way '-go' means language.

Any opinions on all this?
.
--
Scott Johnson |
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