I wrote a few stories a few years ago and recently came across them. I love writing and love writing about history. These stories are kids who grew up in different time periods in Chinese history. I thought I'd share them here in a series of blog posts. The first one is called Moving Again? and is from the Xia Dynasty (2100-1766 BC, during the time of Yu The Great). Hope you enjoy it!
Moving Again
“Mom, do we have to move again?” The little girl asked her mom. Actually, it was more her complaining then talking with her mom. This was the 4th time they’ve moved in her short life of 6 years.
“Yes, the River is flooding again so we have to move. I know that it’s not fun, but if we don’t move, we’ll not only lose our home and all that we have, but we could also die,” the mom told her youngest daughter. There were three kids altogether: two girls and the eldest, a boy.
“All that I’ve known my whole life is moving because of the floods. Will the floods ever stop?” She asked.
“We hope so. I told you about Yu, right?” The older brother asked.
“I think so. He’s the guy who’s the leader in our city, right?” She asked her brother.
“No. He’s the guy who’s working with people like our dad to find ways to make the water from the floods go away from where the villages are. He’s trying to save the villages,” Said the brother.
“Speaking of dad, when is he coming home?” The young girl asked.
“He should be home soon, it’s almost time for dinner,” said the mom. “Ok, kids, can you keep packing? We need to be moving in a few days, before the water reaches the street that we live on, and I need to finish dinner before your dad gets home,” said the mom. Their parents decided earlier that week that it was time to move again. By this time, the family was so used to packing and moving that it didn’t take so long. Actually, they were almost all packed.
“Mom, where are we moving again?” Asked the young girl.
“I think it’s the village next to this one. You’re dad knows where it is,” said the mom.
By this time the kids had gotten used to “hello”s, “goodbyes”, “What’s your name?”, “Where you from?”, And “How old are you?”- all the typical questions you ask when you get to know people in a new place. They had had many new friends over the years and many goodbyes. They also knew what things they really want to keep and move with them from home to home and what they didn’t really need.
The next day when they were packing, the older sister asked the girl, “Why are you taking this with you? You know that we’re leaving today or tomorrow, right?”
“I know. I have everything I want to take with me, and, yes, I want to take this seashell with me.”
“Why? It’s not important,” said the older sister.
“Because it’s from my first best friend that I can remember. It was a gift that Wang Jing gave me when we said goodbye. She gave me this seashell to help me remember her. I miss her. Can’t we go back there and see her?”
“No, we can’t. It’s all been flooded- that’s why we had to move in the first place. Don’t you remember that her family also moved or were going to move a few days after we did? Everyone was moving, just to different towns.”
“I wish she would’ve moved to the same place we did. I miss her,” the young girl said.
“Oh, I know. Moving can be so hard,” said the older sister as she gave her sister a hug. “I miss my friends too. Do you remember what mom says?”
“No, what does she say?” Asked the girl.
“That we are each other’s best friends- that you, me, and our older brother are best friends because we’re family. Family is important.”
“Yes, I remember both mom and dad saying that Family is important,” said the young girl.
“Ok, time to move,” said the dad as he came in to tell his family. “The people I’ve been working with say that the water’s going to reach the area where our house is probably tomorrow so we should move today. Besides, the part of the canal that we were building is done. Most of the men are moving to the same place we are. This is good news for you kids because that means that their families are also moving to the same place. For once you kids might be able to keep some of your friends from here.”
“Really? That would be so cool!” Said the boy.
“Dad, you’re the best,” said the young girl as she gave her dad a hug.
“Ok, we’ve gotta get going. Get your things together. Remember, only take what’s important to you. We can get or make new things when we get to our new home,” said the dad.
They walked two days until they reached their new home. This time it was a little ways up the mountain, so they hoped they would be safe from the floods for a long time. Their dad kept working with Yu and the other men to make the canals in their area. It was a lot of work and took a lot of time, but they would help stop the flooding for good. The children were glad to see that a few families from their old village also moved to the same village they did. Of all of the houses the girl had lived in, this new house was her favorite because it was her home for good.
Epilogue: The Yellow River flooded for over 9 years, causing many people to move. Yu was sent to come up with a plan to stop the flooding. He worked with people from all over the country to make a series of canals to solve the problem. Later, when Shun the Great was looking for someone to take over the country after him, he decided to make Yu the next Emperor. Yu the Great started the first official dynasty of China: the Xia Dynasty (2000-1600 BC).
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