八家
The Houses
Eight registered entities. Each holds contractual primacy in some part of the city's life — water, commerce, land, signal, transition, memory, currency, the strange. The Eight do not always agree. The city signs with all of them anyway.
港
Harbor House
港
water, ports, all movement on the sea
市
Market House
市場
commerce, markets, exchange
山
Mountain House
山
land, foundation, inheritance, the geological
天
Sky House
天
weather, broadcast, signal — anything that moves through air
門
Threshold House
門口
transitions — births, deaths, contract-signings, border-crossings
記
Memory House
記憶
records, archives, what is collectively remembered
錢
Coin House
錢
currency itself, finance, debt
客
Stranger House
生客
newcomers, outsiders, what arrives unannounced