Chinese idiom · 成语
孟母三迁
Meaning
Mencius’s mother moved thrice; to seek a good environment for growth.
Character by character
Origin and story
Traditional biographyLiu Xiang's Biographies of Exemplary Women (列女传) describes a child learning through imitation. Mencius's first home is near graves, and he plays at burial activities. His mother decides this is not the environment she wants for him and moves near a market. There he imitates merchants selling their goods.
She moves again, this time near a school, where his play turns to ritual vessels, bows, and courteous conduct. She chooses to remain. The traditional title speaks of three moves, while the short account presents three residences and two changes between them. Its enduring lesson concerns the influence of surroundings on a child's habits, not a promise that an address alone guarantees learning.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
为了给孩子找个安静的学习环境，他们像孟母三迁一样，反复比较附近的住处。
To find their child a quiet study environment, they carefully compared nearby homes, taking the care associated with Mencius's mother.
Praises a parent's care in choosing a child's educational environment.