# 孟母三遷
## Chinese

| | | mother of Mencius | three | to move; to shift |
| trad. (孟母三遷) | trad. (孟母三遷) | 孟母 | 三 | 遷 |
| simp. (孟母三迁) | simp. (孟母三迁) | 孟母 | 三 | 迁 |
| Literally: “The mother of Mencius changed her abode three times (to avoid bad influence on her son).” |||||

### Etymology

From Biographies of Exemplary Women:
* 鄒孟軻之母也。號孟母。其舍近墓。孟子之少也，嬉遊為墓間之事，踴躍築埋。孟母曰：「此非吾所以居處子也。」乃去舍市傍。其嬉戲為賈人衒賣之事。孟母又曰：「此非吾所以居處子也。」復徙舍學宮之傍。其嬉遊乃設俎豆揖讓進退。孟母曰：「真可以居吾子矣。」遂居及。孟子長，學六藝，卒成大儒之名。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]邹孟轲之母也。号孟母。其舍近墓。孟子之少也，嬉游为墓间之事，踊跃筑埋。孟母曰：「此非吾所以居处子也。」乃去舍市傍。其嬉戏为贾人衒卖之事。孟母又曰：「此非吾所以居处子也。」复徙舍学宫之傍。其嬉游乃设俎豆揖让进退。孟母曰：「真可以居吾子矣。」遂居及。孟子长，学六艺，卒成大儒之名。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]From: The Biographies of Exemplary Women, 2nd century BCEZōu Mèng Kē zhī mǔ yě. Hào mèngmǔ. Qí shè jìn mù. Mèngzǐ zhī shào yě, xīyóu wéi mùjiān zhī shì, yǒngyuè zhùmái. Mèngmǔ yuē: “Cǐ fēi wú suǒyǐ jū chùzǐ yě.” Nǎi qù shè shìbàng. Qí xīxì wéi gǔrén xuàn mài zhī shì. Mèngmǔ yòu yuē: “Cǐ fēi wú suǒyǐ jū chùzǐ yě.” Fù xǐ shè xuégōng zhī bàng. Qí xīyóu nǎi shè zǔdòu yīràng jìntuì. Mèngmǔ yuē: “Zhēn kěyǐ jū wúzǐ yǐ.” Suì jū jí. Mèngzǐ cháng, xué liùyì, zú chéng dàrú zhī míng. [Pinyin]The Mother of Meng Ke of Zou is called Mother Meng. When Mencius was little, they dwelt next to a graveyard; he played at performing funeral rites between the graves and eagerly pounding earth into tombs; Mother Meng said: "This is not the place to stay and raise my child." Then they moved to dwell next to the market, he played at displaying and selling wares as the merchants did; Mother Meng again said: "This is not the place to stay and raise my child." Again they moved next to a school, he played at arranging sacrifical altars and sacrificial vessels, greeting, yielding, advancing, and withdrawing; Mother Meng said: "Truly, my child can stay here". And they ended up staying there. Mencius grew up, learnt the Six Arts, and became a famous and great scholar.

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): mèngmǔsānqiān
    (Zhuyin): ㄇㄥˋ ㄇㄨˇ ㄙㄢ ㄑㄧㄢ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): maang$^6$ mou$^5$ saam$^1$ cin$^1$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: mèngmǔsānqiān
*** Zhuyin: ㄇㄥˋ ㄇㄨˇ ㄙㄢ ㄑㄧㄢ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: mèngmǔsancian
*** Wade–Giles: mêng$^4$-mu$^3$-san$^1$-chʻien$^1$
*** Yale: mèng-mǔ-sān-chyān
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: menqmuusanchian
*** Palladius: мэнмусаньцянь (mɛnmusanʹcjanʹ)
*** Sinological IPA : /mɤŋ⁵¹ mu²¹⁴⁻²¹ sän⁵⁵ t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: maang$^6$ mou$^5$ saam$^1$ cin$^1$
*** Yale: maahng móuh sāam chīn
*** Cantonese Pinyin: maang$^6$ mou$^5$ saam$^1$ tsin$^1$
*** Guangdong Romanization: mang$^6$ mou$^5$ sam$^1$ qin$^1$
*** Sinological IPA : /maːŋ²² mou̯¹³ saːm⁵⁵ t͡sʰiːn⁵⁵/
* Middle Chinese: maengH muwX sam tshjen
Rime :
| Character | 孟 | 母 | 三 | 遷 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 | 1/2 | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 明 (4) | 明 (4) | 心 (16) | 清 (14) |
| Final (韻) | 庚 (109) | 侯 (137) | 談 (143) | 仙 (77) |
| Tone (調) | Departing (H) | Rising (X) | Level (Ø) | Level (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Open | Open | Open | Open |
| Division (等) | II | I | I | III |
| Fanqie | 莫更切 | 莫厚切 | 蘇甘切 | 七然切 |
| Baxter | maengH | muwX | sam | tshjen |
| Reconstructions |||||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /mˠæŋ$^H$/ | /məu$^X$/ | /sɑm/ | /t͡sʰiᴇn/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /mᵚaŋ$^H$/ | /məu$^X$/ | /sɑm/ | /t͡sʰiɛn/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /maŋ$^H$/ | /məu$^X$/ | /sɑm/ | /t͡sʰjæn/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /maɨjŋ$^H$/ | /məw$^X$/ | /sam/ | /t͡sʰian/ |
| Li Rong | /mɐŋ$^H$/ | /mu$^X$/ | /sɑm/ | /t͡sʰiɛn/ |
| Wang Li | /mɐŋ$^H$/ | /məu$^X$/ | /sɑm/ | /t͡sʰĭɛn/ |
| Bernard Karlgren | /mɐŋ$^H$/ | /mə̯u$^X$/ | /sɑm/ | /t͡sʰi̯ɛn/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | mèng | mǒu | sān | qiān |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | mang$^6$ | mau$^5$ | saam$^1$ | cin$^1$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Baxter–Sagart): /*mˤraŋ-s məʔ s.rum [tsʰ]ar/
    (Zhengzhang): /*mraːŋs mɯʔ suːm sʰen/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 孟 | 母 | 三 | 遷 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 | 1/2 | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | mèng | mǔ | sān | qiān |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ mæng$^H$ › | ‹ muw$^X$ › | ‹ sam › | ‹ tshjen › |
| Old Chinese | /*mˁraŋ-s/ | /*məʔ/ (? or *mˁoʔ) | /*s.rum/ (*s.r- > s-; infl. by 四 *s-?) | /*[tsʰ]ar/ |
| English | eldest, great | mother | three | move (v.) |
| Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary. |||||
Zhengzhang system (2003) :
| Character | 孟 | 母 | 三 | 遷 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 | 1/2 | 1/1 |
| No. | 9152 | 9288 | 10963 | 10233 |
| Phonetic component | 皿 | 母 | 三 | 遷 |
| Rime group | 陽 | 之 | 侵 | 元 |
| Rime subdivision | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 孟 | 母 | 三 | 遷 |
| Old Chinese | /*mraːŋs/ | /*mɯʔ/ | /*suːm/ | /*sʰen/ |
| Notes | | | | 說文上從囟聲 |

### Idiom

孟母三遷
* (of parents) to be concerned with their children's growth