The Twenty-four Chinese Paragons of Filial Piety
(Morokoshi
nijûshi-kô)
Publisher: Daikwandô (Fushimi-ya Zenroku)
1848
The book entitled ‘The
Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety’ was written by the Chinese scholar Guo
Jujing during the Yuan Dynasty. His pen
name was Yizi, and he is known in
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Japanese name:
Taishun Chinese name:
T’a Shun Legend:
Despite a neglectful father who favored his cruel step-mother and her son,
Taishun cultivated land for his parents on Robinson:
S60.1 |
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Japanese name:
Môsô Chinese name:
Mêng Tsung Legend:
Môsô fulfilled his sick mother's wish to eat bamboo shoots in mid-winter by
journeying to a snow covered bamboo grove, where after praying, he miraculously
found a huge cache of delicious bamboo shoots beneath the snow. Here he is carrying a hoe and bamboo shoots
through the snow. Robinson:
S60.2 |
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Japanese name:
Chinese name:
Han Wên-ti Legend: Robinson:
S60.3 |
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This is another state of
the above print. |
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Japanese name:
Teiran Chinese name:
Ting Lan Legend: Teiran
carved wooden images of his parents to which he regularly paid his
respects. Returning home one day he
found a frown on the face of the statue of his mother and learned that his
wife had insulted his mother’s memory.
He apologized to the wooden image and severely scolded his wife. Here he is being derided by his wife for
prostrating himself before his parent’s statues. Robinson:
S60.4 |
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This is another version of
the above print. It is a less labor
intensive printing than the above, which almost invariably means a later
edition. In this print, the delicate
shading (bokashi) in the smoke, sky
and title cartouche was omitted. Bokashi was achieved by hand-applying
a gradation of ink to the wooden printing block rather than inking the block
uniformly. This hand-application had
to be repeated for each sheet of paper that was printed. |
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Japanese name:
Binshiken Chinese name:
Min-tzu-ch’ien Legend:
Binshiken entreated his father to have mercy on his new stepmother after his father
found out that Binshiken was being mistreated. Here Binshiken is sweeping the floor for
his reclining stepmother. Robinson:
S60.5 NOTE: This is a copy of a European print of Juno
and the Peacock |
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Japanese name:
Sôshin Chinese name:
Tsêng Ts’an Legend:
Sôshin was gathering wood in the forest one day when his mother back at home
bit her own finger in anger at her son's absence. Feeling his mother's pain, he immediately
returned home. Here he is suddenly
sensing his mother’s distress. Robinson:
S60.6 |
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Japanese name:
Ôshô Chinese name:
Wang Hsiang Legend:
When his stepmother wanted to eat fresh fish in mid-winter, Ôshô went to a
frozen pond and lay naked on the ice until it melted in order to catch fish
for her. Robinson:
S60.7 |
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Japanese name:
Rôraishi Chinese name:
Lao Lai Tzu Legend: At
age 70, Rôraishi still dressed and behaved like an infant to amuse his senile
parents. Robinson:
S60.8 |
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This is a later edition of
the above print. |
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Japanese name:
Kyôshi Chinese name:
Chiang Shih Legend:
Kyôshi, along with his wife, traveled great distances to get good water and
fresh carp desired by his aged mother.
However, one day a fresh spring suddenly bubbled up in their own
garden and provided excellent water as well as fish. Robinson:
S60.9 |
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Japanese name:
Tô-fujin Chinese name:
T’ang Fu-jên Legend:
Tô-fujin (also known as wife Tang) suckled her toothless grandmother at her
breasts. Robinson:
S60.10 |
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Japanese name:
Yôkyô Chinese name:
Yang Hsiang Legend: Yôkyô at 14 years of age was accompanying his father into the mountains
when a hungry tiger leapt out at them.
Without thinking of his own life, Yôkyô
protectively jumped in front of his father and thus
scared off the tiger with his show of determined will. Robinson: S60.11 |
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Japanese name:
Tôyei Chinese name:
Tung Yung Legend:
Tôyei indentured himself to a weaver in order to raise money for his father's
burial. One day he met a woman who, in
the first hour after their marriage, wove enough silk to fulfill the terms of
his contract and then revealed herself to be the Heavenly Weaver (Shokujo)
before ascending to heaven. Robinson:
S60.12 |
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Japanese name:
Kôkyô Chinese name:
Huang Hsiang Legend:
Kôkyô fanned his widowed father to cool him in the summer and warmed his
father's bed with his own body in the winter.
Here Kôkyô is preparing his father’s bed. Robinson:
S60.13 |
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This is another version of the
above print. It is a less labor
intensive printing than the above, which almost invariably means a later
edition. In this print, the shading (bokashi) in the upper sky was
omitted. There are fewer colors in the
sky, in the foreground and in the father’s robe, indicating that the number
of woodblocks was reduced. |
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Japanese name:
Kwakkyo Chinese name:
Kuo Chü Legend:
Kwakkyo, lamenting the fact that his aged mother was going hungry because
food was being eaten by his infant son, prepared to kill the baby. While digging the grave he discovered a pot
of gold with an attached note (or inscription) that the treasure was meant
for him. Robinson:
S60.14 |
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Japanese name:
Shujushô Chinese name:
Legend: Shujushô
was separated from his mother at age seven and later became a high government
official. At age 55 he retired from
office and began to search for his mother.
After much prayer and writing a sutra with his own blood he found his
mother. Here Shujushô is resting under
a tree. Robinson:
S60.15 |
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Japanese name:
Yenshi Chinese name:
Yen Tzu Legend:
Yenshi disguised himself in a deer skin in
order to capture a doe, which he could milk in order to cure his parents' eye
disease. Hidden in the deer herd he
was mistaken for a deer by hunters who roundly scolded him. However, when they heard his explanation
the hunters had only praise. Here
Yenshi and a hunter are conversing. Robinson:
S60.16 |
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Japanese name:
Saijun Chinese name:
Ts’ai Shun Legend:
During a famine, Saijun went into the forest to pick berries for his mother
and divided his take into ripe and unripe berries. Later, when accosted by brigands and asked
about the berries, he explained that he intended to eat the unripe berries
and give the ripe ones to his mother.
The rebels were so impressed that they gave Saijun some meat to take
home. Here Saijun encounters the
brigands. Robinson:
S60.17 |
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This is another state of
the above print. |
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Japanese name:
Yukinrô Chinese name:
Yü Ch’ien-lou Legend:
Yukinrô was a provincial governor who one day felt a pain in his chest and
had a premonition that his aged father was ill. Upon making the long journey home, Yukinrô
found his father on his death bed and was told by a doctor that someone must
taste the excrement of the sick man to determine if he would live or
die. Yukinrô performed the unpleasant
task, and when he learned of his father's impending demise, prayed all night
that he might die in his father's place.
Here Yukinrô is rushing home to be at his father’s bedside. Robinson:
S60.18 |
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This is another state of
the above print. |
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Japanese name:
Rikuseki Chinese name:
Lu Chi Legend: When
Rikuseki was six years old he was invited to the home of a wealthy neighbor
where he was given some persimmons, which he slipped into his robes. Upon leaving, the fruit fell out of his
robes, and Rikuseki explained that he intended to take them home for his
mother. Here Rikuseki is being
commended by the wealthy neighbor. Robinson:
S60.19 |
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Japanese name:
Chûyû Chinese name:
Chung Yu Legend:
Chûyû carrying bags of ice on his back for his parents Robinson:
S60.20 |
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Japanese name:
Chôkô and Chôrei Chinese name: Chang Hsiao and Chang Li Legend:
Chôkô and Chôrei were brothers who, to support their 80 year old mother,
gathered berries in the forest. One
day on his way home Chôkô was attacked by robbers. As he had no money, the robbers wanted to
kill him, but Chôkô begged that he might first deliver the food. Just then Chôrei appeared and offered his
own life in place of his brother's. So
impressed were the robbers that they set both brothers free and gave them
salt and rice. Here Chôrei is offering
his own life in place of his brother's.
Robinson:
S60.21 |
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Japanese name:
Ôhô Chinese name:
Wang P’ou Legend:
Ôhô would rush to his mother's grave during thunder storms to comfort her spirit,
because she had feared lightning while alive. Robinson:
S60.22 |
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Japanese name:
Gomô Chinese name:
Wu Mêng Legend:
Eight year old Gomô would let himself be bitten by mosquitoes so as to spare
his sleeping parents. Here he is fanning
mosquitoes away from his sleeping father. Robinson:
S60.23 NOTE: The
red discoloration in the upper part of the left margin is an ink
transfer. It was made by laying this
print on top of another before the ink was dry, and it therefore has the same
size and shape as the red cartouche in the right upper margin. |
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Japanese name:
Kôteiken Chinese name:
Huang T’ing-chien Legend:
Kôteiken was a famous Northern Song calligrapher and poet who was so devoted to
his mother that he emptied her chamber pot himself. Robinson:
S60.24 |
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In keeping with the theme
of this series, the title page was designed as an imitation of a Chinese
stone rubbing, although it is actually a woodblock print. Woodblock prints that mimic stone rubbings
are called ishizuri-e. The text is in Chinese characters rendered
in seal script. The frame is decorated
with a bat and a stag antler. The bat
is a symbol for good luck, and the stag is a symbol for long life. |
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The preface to this series
is also an ishizuri-e with the text
in Chinese. Musa Dojin from Kyto is
identified as the author. This is
probably the pen name of a well-known author, possibly Ryukatei Tanekazu, the
author of the text on the individual prints in this series. |
‘Robinson’ refers to listing in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its unpublished supplement.
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