Robert Seeberger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > A while back Debbie asked for this and I finally found it! > > > > Robert Seeberger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> What is Maru? >> Hmmmm......good question. >> Maru is a ship, a Japanese ship. >> Maru is also a defense against the cultural imperialism of the >> Culture >> mailing list with their GSVs and ROUs.(Thats a different discussion >> though<G>) >> Maru is a way of adding remarks at the end of a message in a way >> that >> is distinctive and exclusive to Brin-L. >> If you see someone who uses a Maru shipname, they are from Brin-L. >> Maru is a means to crack a joke, make an observation, or poke a >> stick >> in someones eye. >> >> And below is the background from which it was derived. >> >> *********************************************** >> The word "maru" originated in the seventh century and has since >> come >> to >>> serve as a popular name for a host of Japanese vessels. The first >>> ship to use the suffix is said to have been the 16th century ship >>> called the Nipon Maru, built by the legendary Toyotomi Hideyoschi. >>> However, despite its widespread use, the word has never been >>> graced >>> with a definitive definition. >>> >>> Our attempts to muster a universal meaning of the term maru have >>> all >>> ended in frustration, with each possibility smothered in a >>> down-pour >>> of vaguery. For instance, one Japanese reference worker gave as >>> many >>> as fourteen meanings for maru, while another offered at least five >>> additional meanings without including all the other fourteen. >>> >>> These misunderstandings and discrepancies have arisen from the >>> fact >>> that maru is a word laced with suggestiveness. Here is a selection >>> of some of the explanations we have found. >>> >>> Possible meanings >>> The term maru originally seemed to act as a form of compliment >>> when >>> attached to certain personal names. >>> >>> For example, people seemed to be bestowing respect upon the eighth >>> century poet Hitomaru Kikinomoto by attaching the term to his >>> name. >>> It could also be seen as a term of endearment rather like a >>> diminutive, as in the juvenile name Ushiwakamaru, of the >>> twelfth-century general Yoshitsune Minamoto. >>> >>> Gradually the word was thrown to the dogs, literally, as people >>> became accustomed to bestowing it upon their pet animals. Other >>> names which received the maru blessing included a precious utensil >>> used perhaps in some kind of tea ceremony or even the favoured >>> tool >>> of a deft craftsman. Another example of this maru phenomenon can >>> be >>> found in the mighty sword Mura-same-Maru; this famous blade of the >>> seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was supposed to be so potent >>> that whoever owned it, regardless of his own intent, was destined >>> to >>> kill somebody sooner or later. >>> >>> The term maru also became associated with the concept of a circle. >>> This circular affinity suggested completeness, entirety, >>> wholeness; >>> notions which the image of a circle seems to symbolise. >>> >>> >>> Indeed, the connotation of 'wholeness' perhaps led to the use of >>> maru to mean 'one entire hour' and also as a term for the fanciful >>> frying of a 'whole' animal, as opposed to a mere handful of >>> giblets. >>> >>> In addition to all these other meanings, it also has an >>> association >>> with 'dust', while at the same time referring to 'those naive in >>> love', hence the wistful phrase "dusty lover". >>> >>> Maru and ships >>> Having sashayed through the multifarious meanings of maru, it is >>> now >>> time to cut to the chase, examining it in the context of ships. >>> The >>> use of maru in a ship name would seem to express the hope that the >>> ship will defend those aboard against all perils of the sea, being >>> as complete as a circle, as trustworthy as a sword and as virile >>> as >>> a master craftsman's favourite tool. In addition to this, it also >>> carried a feeling of attachment or endearment, such as that felt >>> by >>> one "dusty lover" for another. Also, unlike most other countries, >>> a >>> ship in Japan is referred to as a male and in adding "maru" to the >>> ships name, as was done with young boys in olden times, the ship >>> was >>> protected from harm. >>> >>> ************************************************************ >>> >>> In the 1905 edition of Basil Hall Chamberlain's "Things Japanese" >>> he >>> says of `maru' "It is often asked: what does the word Maru mean in >>> the names of ships ...?" His answer is: >>> >>> a.. the real meaning is obscure >>> b.. it is probably merging of two words: `maru' and `maro', which >>> was a term of endearment. >>> c.. it used to be used for swords, armour, parts of castles, etc. >>> too. >>> *************************************************************** >>> >>> From India, the Sanskrit "manu" also traveled east. In Japan, >>> "manu" >>> became "maru," a word which is included in the name of most >>> Japanese >>> ships. In ancient Chinese mythology, the god Hakudo Maru came down >>> from heaven to teach people how to make ships. This name could >>> well >>> relate to Noah, the first shipbuilder. >>> >>> The custom of including "maru" in the names of Japanese ships >>> seems >>> to have started between the 12th and 14th centuries. In the late >>> 16th century, the warlord Hideyoshi built Japan's first really >>> large >>> ship, calling it "Nippon Maru." In Japanese "maru" also seems to >>> mean a round enclosure, or circle of refuge, so that the circle is >>> considered to be a sign of good fortune. Noah's ark, of course, >>> had >>> been the first great enclosure of refuge. >>> >>> ************************************************************** >>> >>> Swords >>> >>> MARU Round. Often used to describe BOSHI. >>> MARU-DOME Round groove termination. >>> MARU-MUNE Round backridge, either blade or tang. >>> BOSHI "Hat." Temper line in KISSAKI. Also, portion of temper >>> line in KISSAKI closest to the point. >>> KISSAKI Point section. Plane bounded by the KO-SHINOGI, YOKOTE >>> and FUKURA. >>> KO-SHINOGI The SHINOGI ridgeline attendant to the KISSAKI. >>> FUKURA The curve of the HA or edge in the KISSAKI. >>> >>> YOKOTE "At the Side." Line separating the JI from the KISSAKI. >>> JI Sword-body surface plane between the SHINOGI and the HA. >>> SHINOGI Ridgelines on a "fighting sword." >>> HA Sword edge. Cutting edge. >>> >>> >>> *************************************************************** >>> Tom Paine Maru (Del Rey Books, 1984) >>> L. Neil Smith >>> The North American Confederacy reaches the stars at last, its >>> Prime >>> Directive: search out governments wherever they are found to exist >>> and destroy them! >>> >>> ***************************************************************** >>> "YD-038, the hero of my fifth novel, Tom Paine Maru, is an escapee >>> from the kind of world that liberals have spent the last 60 years >>> trying to build for us. >>> >>> ***************************************************************** >>> >>> THE TOM PAINE MARU, Del Rey, 1984. ISBN 0-345-29243-X. >>> The first of the mainline Confederacy novels in which Win Bear >>> does >>> not appear. Whitey O'Thraight, descendant of some of the first >>> extrasolar colonists, finds himself in the North American (now >>> Galactic) Confederacy. His homeworld having reverted to barbarism >>> (i.e. government), he suffers a rather severe case of culture >>> shock >>> but eventually assimilates into the culture. >>> >>> ******************************************************* >>> TOM PAINE MARU (Del Rey, 1984) Launching spaceships eight miles in >>> diameter, the freewheeling North American Confederacy reaches for >>> the >>> stars! _Its_ Prime Directive: search out governments wherever they >>> exist -- and destroy them! Sapient dolphins and talking apes >>> contend >>> with aliens on the endless frontier. >>> >>> ************************************************* >>> OK, let's talk about the Confederate Fleet! >>> >>> In 234 A.L., Construction began on Tom- and Bobfleet, on the >>> assumption faster-than-light drive would be >>> discovered, which it was in 250 A.L. >>> >>> Tomfleet and Bobfleet consist of 6 ships each, you can see the >>> roster below, each about 7.5 jeffersonian miles (jm) in diameter >>> with tiers of smaller auxiliary ships docked on the underside of >>> them, 7 per tier. I am not quite sure as to weither there are 4 or >>> 5 >>> tiers of ships, but depending on the number there are either 400 >>> or >>> 2801 individual vessels per ship once all the auxiliaries are >>> docked >>> to their mother-ship. >>> >>> The vessels themselves are light-colored featureless "inverted >>> salad bowl" in shape. My calculations indicate that they are 3.75 >>> times as wide as they are high, and I would guess that would apply >>> to all tiers of ships. I will post a diagram in a separate >>> message. >>> >>> I am not sure if the TRANS-UNIVERSAL fleet follows the same >>> design as Tom- and Bobfleets as I get the impression they are >>> smaller faster vessels for inter-world travel. Neil, can you let >>> us >>> know? >>> >>> Lux >>> >>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >>> ------------- >>> TABLES: >>> >>> >>> Fleet Hierarchy: >>> >>> Tier 1 1 7.5 jm 12.0 km >>> Tier 2 7 2.1 jm 3.4 km >>> Tier 3 49 (7x7) 2940 jf 940 m >>> Tier 4 343 (7x7x7) 823 jf 260 m >>> ---- >>> 400 >>> >>> Tier 5 2401 (7x7x7x7) 230 jf 73 m >>> --- >>> 2801 >>> >>> >>> >>> Ships of the Confederate Fleet >>> >>> TOMFLEET: >>> Tom Paine Maru >>> Tom Jefferson Maru >>> Tom Szasz Maru >>> Tom Edison Maru >>> Tom Huxley Maru >>> Tom Sowell Maru >>> >>> BOBFLEET: >>> Bob Heinlein Maru >>> Bob Wilson Maru >>> Bob Shea Maru >>> Bob LeFever Maru >>> Bob Poole Maru >>> Bob Walpole Maru >>> >>> TRANS-UNIVERSAL >>> Ragnar Danneskold >>> Hagbard Celine >>> Captian Nemo >>> Peter LaNague >>> Star Fox >>> Zorro >>> >>> >> ************************************************************************* >> >> xponent >> Tom Bob Maru >> rob
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