Mother of Mencius was an insightful reading that allowed me to understand ideas of respect in Early China a little bit better. The beginning of the story brings up two areas that are, as I interpreted it, not well received amongst the populous for raising children: by a graveyard and a market. Confucian values rely heavily on respect and these two places do not encourage or stimulate that in an impressionable child. When he spent so much time preparing burial rites or creating homes for the dead, he was missing vital experiences that mold him. One cannot talk to a dead person, thus there is nothing to be gained for a child to be there. The other place she tried to raise him was a marketplace, but that too failed. In ancient times, merchants were usually synonymous with the higher class – which is respectable. But as a merchant, they are always trying to sell a product, and that product might not always be up to a high standard. Finally, he was brought to a place where he was taught real respect. This spoke to me because it is key to Chinese culture – true respect. It is not respect that is enacted because one has something to gain, but one where it is there because it needs to be, because it was taught there – society demands it.