mèng mǔ sān qiān

Literal translation: Menzi’s (孟, mèng) mother (母, mǔ) relocates three times (三遷, sān qiān)

Actual Meaning: To care about your children’s upbringing

Menzi, an ancient Confucian Philosopher, is widely acknowledged as the “Second Sage” - second only to Confucius himself. However, Menzi was not born with this wisdom. As a child, he was - as most children were, unfortunately - boisterous, unruly, and utterly apathetic to the finer points of the Confucian Analects.

Young Menzi and his widowed mother lived next to a cemetery. Menzi and his friends grew up imitating funeral processions, each wailing and crying as they kowtowed just as the adults did. His mother found out and sighed: “This is no place to raise a kid - he’ll end up chronically depressed! We’ll have to move somewhere else.”

Their second home was next to a market, which was somewhat of an upgrade. However, Menzi started imitating the merchants. He learned how to be a sly salesperson by bluffing about his wares and haggling with customers. Legends say he was pioneering the first Multi-Level Marketing scheme when his mother discovered his antics yet again. “A salesperson? No! My son must become properly educated!”

And so they moved yet again - right next to an academy. Young scholars read from the Analects, discussed contemporary politics, and performed community service for their college applications. Menzi became polite, educated, and enthusiastic about his SATs - and with this, Menzi’s mother was satisfied.

TL;DR: Menzi’s mother founded the idea of school districts: she moved around until his son got the best education possible. Probably explains why Chinese people are into both real estate and tiger-parenting.