Zi

Zi was born into a settler household from the Shang heartland, now living in the wooded uplands far south of the main Shang centers, where a small garrison guarded paths, stored grain, and enforced orders for a local authority. His father, Geng, carried a spear and a hide shield on patrol days and slept in the long room of his father Ren’s house when he returned. The household offered millet gruel, a cup of fermented drink, and small pieces of pork at a low earthen altar, speaking the names of Ren’s forebears and asking for protection.

A year before Zi’s birth, Mu had delivered a daughter, Nü, who died the same day. The women who worked the hearth did not forget her. When Zi arrived, Ding, the grandmother, washed him, rubbed him with warm water, and tied a simple cord at his waist. Mu kept him against her while she husked grain and spun thread, and Ding took him when Mu went to the stream or the small garden plots near the forest edge.

When Zi was old enough to sit, Geng lifted him once, then set him down quickly; he had to check his straps and leave with Xin, his younger brother, to escort a load along the ridge track. Late in the hot season Zi began coughing, then struggled to draw breath. Mu fed him thin gruel; Ding held him upright by the fire and warmed stones beside him. Zi died the next day.

Zi’s body was wrapped in cloth and buried in a small pit near the house, with a few grains of millet scattered over the earth.