Chapter 13 Section 12 Meng Mu's Tutor

Meng Ke, who was born in Zou (now Zou County, Shandong) during the Warring States Period, is the most influential Confucian master after the great educator Confucius, and has always been honored as "the second sage".Because he inherited and developed the Confucianism founded by Confucius, his thoughts were naturally included in the ideological system of Confucius, and they are collectively called "The Way of Confucius and Mencius".The way of Confucius and Mencius was respected by the ruling class as the ruling ideology in Chinese feudal society. The status of Confucius and Mencius was so high that even the feudal emperors of the past dynasties could not match it.

Mencius was a descendant of the Mengsun family, an aristocrat in the state of Lu.Although he was born in a noble family, in fact, his family was poor when he was a teenager, and he did not enjoy the privileged life of noble children who open their mouths and clothes.Mencius' father died early, and his upbringing and education depended entirely on his mother.Meng Mu is a hard-working and good at educating her children. She enjoys a high reputation in the history of Chinese family education, especially the stories of "Mother Meng moved three times" and "bringing children off the phone" have been well-known for thousands of years.

After Mencius' father died, the house where Meng's mother lived was next to the cemetery.Mencius was a lively child who liked games since he was a child. He learned to build earthen tombs every day in the open space between the tombs.Mother Meng realized that this is not a place for children to stay.So she moved her home to the side of the bustling market. She thought that a crowded and lively place would enrich the children's knowledge and learn the skills of being a human being.Unexpectedly, children naturally love to imitate the behavior of adults.Although Mencius's game no longer builds graves, he imitates businessmen and yells all day long, just like a small peddler.Mother Meng was very dissatisfied, thinking that this was not a place to educate her son, so she moved her home next to the school.Since then, Mencius's games have been changed to imitate the teachers and students in the school, setting up Zu [zu Zu] Dou Yi to let him advance and retreat, and he has a strong interest in ritual and music activities.Because Meng's mother paid attention to the influence of environment on children's education, she took the initiative to choose a place to live, and even moved her house three times. In the end, Mencius developed a love of learning, and when he grew up, he learned the six arts and was good at Confucianism.

After Mencius went to school, he made rapid progress.After a few years of hard work, he consciously learned something and felt complacent.One day, he came home happily and told his mother that he was going to stop studying.Mother Meng was weaving, and asked her son, "How far can I count as the top?" Mencius replied, "I think I can do it." spinning thread.Seeing this, Mencius timidly asked his mother why she did this.Mother Meng said: "My child, you are abolishing your studies now, just like I cut off these spinning threads. A person with lofty ideals seeks knowledge to build fame and do great things. Therefore, learning requires extensive knowledge, so that you can live in peace and move to avoid disasters." .Today you abolish your studies and don’t seek progress. The result of this practice is that you can only become an ordinary commoner in the future. What is the difference? If you give up halfway through your studies, can your future wife and children have clothes to wear and not be hungry for many years? Women can’t leave behind the labor of earning food. If a man doesn’t strengthen his moral cultivation, he will degenerate and stop being a man. Anyone who steals will be forced to do hard labor or serve as a soldier." Mencius was deeply moved after hearing these words.Since then, I have been studying hard day and night and working harder.Later, he stayed away from his family, worshiped Confucius' grandson Zisi as his teacher, and studied the "Six Classics" carefully.

Regardless of the authenticity and reliability of the stories of "Meng's mother moved three times" and "Teaching children with a broken machine", these two stories reflect the fine tradition of emphasizing family education in ancient China.Parents who have always hoped that their children will become a success have always regarded Meng Mu as a model of family education; her method of paying attention to environmental education and being good at patiently inspiring and inducing has also become a valuable experience in ancient family education.Today, if you have the opportunity to visit the former residence of Mencius, you can still see the two monuments commemorating Meng’s mother’s family education style—“Meng’s mother moved three times” and “Meng’s mother broke the machine”.