Was Mencius Married?

A person just came to this site from a Google search of the question: "Was Mencius Married?"  Just a week or so ago I was thinking the same question.  I know of no reliable reference to a wife or, tellingly, a son. 

I asked a colleague here and he could not think of anything off hand. He sent me this Baidu discussion on the question of the names of the wives of Confucius and Mencius?  A couple of posters report that Mencius' wife was named "Tian."  There is also a story about Mencius complaining to his mother that his wife was impolite (无礼), but this seems to be more about his mother than his wife.    

The existence of a name and a story (legend?) suggests the existence of a wife.  But that is not a whole lot to go on.  I would assume that he was married, given the cultural milieu of his times.  So, the question is: why is so little known or written about his wife, or his children? 

There is little on Confucius' wife.  But we know enough to know that he left her when he went on his travels.  Was it divorce?  Who knows.  But there is more there on Confucius's wife than on Mencius' wife.

Why the historical silence on Mencius' wife and children?

UPDATE: Thanks to Stephen C. Walker for providing the reference in Xunzi on Mencius and his wife.  It is in section 21, "Dispelling Obsession".  Here is the one sentence and footnote from the Watson translation:

Mencius was shocked at his wife's behavior and turned her out of the house*

*According to the version of the story in Han-shih wai-chuan 9, Mencius came into his wife's room unannounced and found her sprawled in an unladylike position.  In that version, however, he did not succeed in turning her out, but on the contrary was severely reprimanded by his mother for walking in on people unannounced.

The Han-shih wai-chuan story is the same one mention on Baidu (linked above).  But it is nice to have textual references.

Comments

[Stephen C. Walker]

Xunzi, in chapter 21, disapproves of the way Mengzi treated his wife.

[Sam]

Thanks Stephen!

[Alfred]

Confucius didn't divorce his wife. First, such a thing was heard of even in those days, and second, a person who upholds harmonious relationships does not divorce.