The story “Mencius’ Mother,” recounts Mencius’ upbringing and brings up several important aspects of raising children in China. One recurring idea I noticed throughout the story is that Mencius’ mother is very careful about the environment that her son is raised in. For example, at the beginning of the story, when Mencius is very little, the text notes that he liked to play burial rituals in the cemetery. However, his mother asserts “This is no place to bring up my son.” Next, they move near the town marketplace, but once again, she feels like this is not a good place to raise her son. When they move again, they live near a schoolhouse and finally, his mother feels that this is the right place for him, and what he sees and hears around him here is a good influence on him. Mencius’ mother also trains her son to develop morals and instills values in him based on the behaviors he sees around him on a day-to-day basis. The story sheds light on the dedication that Menicus’ mother had to provide her son with a good education, revealed in the fact that they moved three times, and also is a great example of the outstanding contributions that women have made to early Chinese history.
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I think that this reading was very interesting. I agree that it did shed a good light on Mencius’ mother. She is seemingly very caring for her son and also very insightful and helps him with a lot of things throughout his wife. However, I think it is an interesting example of contributions that women made to early Chinese history. In one part the his mother states, “This means that a woman’s duty is not to control or to take charge. Instead she must follow the ‘three submissions.’ When she is young, she must submit to her parents. After her marriage, she must submit to her husband. When she is widowed, she must submit to her son. These are the rules of propriety.” I think this quote shows how that even though she is seen as a good mother and person, the contributions women make are only in concern to what their husband/son is doing as well. If Mencius didn’t succeed as he did or wasn’t as smart, his mother would then also be to blame. She can never be praised for her doings, only for what her doings do for her sons progression.