When it comes to the virtuous mothers in history, the first thing that comes to our mind is the mother of the great thinker and educator, Meng Mu. Meng Mu was a native of Jin during the Warring States Period. Her husband, Meng Ji, was a scholar who had not found his way. In order to honor his ancestors, he traveled to the State of Song to study, hoping to display his talents. Unfortunately, when Mencius was three years old, Meng Mu received a bad news. The grief-stricken Meng Mu did not become depressed, but quickly recovered. At this moment, she only wanted to bring Mencius up well.
Chinese culture has a long history, and the concept of "prenatal education" has a long history. According to the "Biographies of Women" written by Liu Xiang in the Western Han Dynasty, when King Wen of Zhou's mother was pregnant, she did not look at evil colors, listen to obscene sounds, or speak dirty words or hurtful words. She was able to teach her child through prenatal education. This means that when a mother is pregnant, she should not look at improper colors, listen to obscene sounds, or speak dirty words or hurtful words. This is prenatal education. During the pregnancy of King Cheng of Zhou's mother, she stood upright without limping, sat without leaning, lived alone without being rude, and did not scold even when she was angry. This means that when standing, one should have a proper posture; when sitting, one should have a proper posture; when alone, one should have an image; when sitting, one should not stretch out one's legs; and when angry, one should not scold others. Meng Mu was inspired by her predecessors and also paid great attention to prenatal education. In the "Biographies of Women", there is a saying from Meng Mu: "I am pregnant with a son. If the mat is not straight, I will not sit on it; if the meat is not cut properly, I will not eat it. This is prenatal education." This means that when pregnant, one should pay attention to the placement of the mat and the cutting of the meat.
mencius ' mother moves her home three times to better her son 's education
Mencius gradually grew up, and his mother nurtured him with great care until one day she noticed that the environment had a negative impact on her son. So she moved from the cemetery to the market, then from the market to the neighborhood where pigs and sheep were slaughtered, and then to the neighborhood near the school. From this story, we can see that Mencius' mother was very careful and moved three times to choose a good neighborhood for her child's growth.
Buy meat and eat dumplings
Once, the neighbor was sharpening a knife and preparing to kill a pig. Mencius was curious and went to ask his mother, "What is the neighbor doing?""He is killing a pig.""Why is he killing a pig?"Upon hearing this, Mencius' mother smiled and casually said, "He is killing it for you to eat." Just as she finished saying this, Mencius' mother regretted it and thought that the neighbor was not killing the pig for the sake of the child, but she had deceived him. Isn't this teaching him to lie? In order to make up for this mistake, Mencius' mother really bought the neighbor's pork and gave it to Mencius to eat. Mencius' mother not only attached importance to the influence of the objective environment on the young Mencius, but also paid great attention to teaching by example, using her own words and deeds to inspire and educate Mencius. The story of "buying meat to eat" tells us that the words and deeds of a mother have a great impact on their children's moral education of honesty and non-deception.
Cut off the machine and teach the child
When Mencius was a teenager, he also did not study hard. Once, when Mencius came home from school, his mother was sitting in front of the loom weaving. She asked her son, "Can you recite the 'Learning' chapter of the 'Analects of Confucius'?" Mencius replied, "Yes, I can recite it," and his mother said happily, "Let me hear you recite it." However, Mencius kept repeating the same sentence: "The Master said, 'Isn't it a delight to learn and practice what you have learned?' " Mencius' mother was angry and sad when she heard this, and she raised a knife and cut the cloth she had just woven. The threads fell to the ground one after another. Mencius saw his mother cut the cloth she had worked hard to weave, and he was both scared and did not understand the reason. He hurriedly asked his mother what happened. Mencius' mother lectured her son, saying, "Learning is like weaving. If you are not focused on your studies, it is like a broken piece of linen. The cloth is broken and can never be put back together. If you do not work hard every day and constantly review what you have learned, you will never learn anything." When Mencius was sad, his mother began to sob. Mencius was deeply touched and from then on, he firmly remembered his mother's words and studied hard from morning till night.
The various practices of Mengzi's mother's teaching had a great influence on the growth of Mencius and the development of his thoughts. A good environment allowed Mencius to be influenced by etiquette and customs at an early age, and he developed the virtue of honesty and non-deception, as well as the spirit of perseverance and hard work in his studies, which laid a solid and stable foundation for his later commitment to the research and development of Confucianism.
Choose a teacher for your son
During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the academic atmosphere flourished, and the various schools of thought vied with each other, making people dazzled and unsure of how to choose. However, Meng's mother had her own firm beliefs, ignoring the mysticism of Laozi and Zhuangzi, and disdaining the utilitarianism of Yang Zhu. She was only interested in Confucius's way of loyalty and forgiveness, and personally searched for an enlightening teacher for Mencius among the various schools of thought in the Confucian school.
At that time, Confucius' grandson Kong Ji, also known as Zi Si, was teaching the Six Arts in Qufu. Students from far and near came to Qufu to learn from him. When Mencius was fifteen years old, he came to Qufu from Zoucheng with the encouragement of his mother. From then on, he officially received the essence of Confucianism. Zi Si was very fond of Mencius and said to his left and right: "Meng Ruzi is a man of virtue and righteousness, and his words are like those of Yao and Shun, which are rare in the world." From then on, Mencius studied under Zi Si for five years, and his knowledge and virtue improved rapidly. Finally, he inherited the mantle of Confucius.
