Confucianism emphasizes virtue, selflessness, duty, patriotism, hard work, and respect for hierarchy, both familial and societal. Just as George Washington and the story of the cherry tree is used in the United States to teach the value of honesty, Confucianism reinforces its lessons about people who represent particular virtues. For example, Chinese children learn about such heroes as Mu Lan, a women of the 6th century who disgusted herself as a man and served 12 years as a soldier so that her ill father would not be disgusted or punished because he could not report for military duty. Mu Lan teach courage and filial devotion.