孟母三迁｜Mencius' Mother Moves Three Times
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民间故事
- More than two thousand three hundred years ago after the Shang and Zhou dynasties before Qin unified the six states
- The land of China experienced over five hundred years of war
- The first three hundred years was called the Spring and Autumn Period
- The last two hundred years was called the Warring States Period
- In the middle of the Warring States Period there was a boy named Meng Ke
- He was born in the State of Zou
- Which is today's Zoucheng in Shandong Province
- When he was three years old his father passed away
- His mother raised him alone
- The family was poor with only a few acres of land
- They lived next to a cemetery
- Every morning funeral processions passed by their door
- Meng Ke leaned by the window watching people in mourning clothes
- He imitated them kneeling on the ground
- Hands clasped together crying loudly
- He grabbed a handful of earth learning to scatter it into the sky
- When his mother returned from the fields she saw this
- The basket in her hand fell to the ground
- She ran over and held Meng Ke tightly in her arms
- She thought to herself if this goes on what will my child become
- The next day his mother packed their few clothes
- Holding Meng Ke's small hand she left this home
- They moved next to a busy market
- Every day the market was filled with noise
- Butchers waved their knives and shouted
- Merchants boasted about their goods at the top of their lungs
- Meng Ke imitated the butchers waving a small twig
- He mimicked the merchants' tone bargaining with the air
- His mother heard this from inside her brow furrowing deeper
- At night she watched Meng Ke sleeping
- She sighed softly
- She thought to herself this place is not suitable for a child to grow up either
- Before dawn his mother packed their bags again
- Holding Meng Ke's small hand she set off once more
- This time they moved next to a school palace
- A school palace was an ancient school
- There students learned the Six Arts rites music archery charioteering calligraphy and mathematics
- Every morning the sound of reading came from the school palace
- Meng Ke stood outside the wall standing on tiptoe
- He saw a group of students in long robes
- Following their teacher bowing saluting and reading
- He imitated their movements
- Hands clasped bowing respectfully
- Mumbling words he didn't understand
- His eyes shining with light
- His mother stood at the door watching all this
- The corners of her mouth slowly rose
- She knew this time she had found the right place
- Mencius' mother moved three times not for her child to become an official or get rich
- But hoping he would become a person of virtue
- Environment shapes a person this was her simplest belief
- Later people wrote this story into books
- The Three Character Classic says
- In ancient times Mencius' mother chose the right neighborhood
- If the child didn't study she cut the loom
- When Meng Ke grew up he became one of the greatest thinkers in Chinese history
- People honored him as Mencius
- He inherited and developed Confucius' thoughts
- He was called the Second Sage second only to Confucius
- He proposed the theory of original goodness believing human nature is inherently good
- He advocated benevolent governance saying the people are most important the state is second the ruler is least important
- His thoughts were compiled into the book Mencius
- Becoming one of the Four Books of Confucian classics
- He once wrote
- Without compass and square one cannot make circles and squares
- And the one who set the first rule for him
- Was precisely that mother who moved three times
