Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety of Our Country
(Honchô nijûshi-kô)
Publisher: Mura-Tetsu
1842-1843
The
book entitled ‘The Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety’ was written by the Guo Jujing during the Yuan
Dynasty. It recounts the
self-sacrificing behavior of twenty-four Chinese children who improved their
parents’ lives or peacefully honored their deceased parents. This series of prints portrays a more warlike
lot of children from Japanese history and legend–several free their parents
from captivity or avenge their parents’ deaths.
The prints in this series are each about 10 by 7 inches (25 by 18
centimeters), a size known as chûban.
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Scene: Anju-hime carrying two buckets on a pole over her
shoulder accompanied by her brother, Tsushiô Maru who is carrying a rake and a basket of reeds Robinson:
S23.1 |
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Scene: Chiyonô-hime in a wind holding a torch and a dirk about
to rescue her father from imprisonment after the rebellion of Aidzu no Tarô Nobuchika against Yoritomo Robinson:
S23.2 |
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Scene: Chûjô-hime walking by a lotus pond on a windy day Robinson:
S23.3 |
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Scene: The
young Soga brothers practice swordsmanship on a heap of snow in order to
avenge their father Robinson:
S23.4 |
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Scene:
Hino Kumawaka Maru
training to avenge his father by swinging across a stream on a bamboo Robinson:
S23.5 |
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Scene: The
dutiful girl of Hitotsuya saved from the hag of the
lonely house by an apparition of the goddess Kannon Robinson:
S23.6 |
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Scene: Hitsu-no-Saishô Haruhira
recognizes his Father who was forced to act as a lighthouse with a candle on
his head Robinson:
S23.7 |
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Scene:
Homma Gennai-hyôye Suketada
writing his farewell poem on a torii at Shitennôji with his own
blood after the death of his father Sukesada Robinson:
S23.8 Image courtesy of John Rose
and Auction Ukiyo-e Ltd. |
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Scene: Ima-jo a poor girl of Take-no-uchi
village in Robinson:
S23.9 |
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Scene: Kamada Matahachi of Matsuzaka fighting off wolves with a huge iron bar in the
Robinson:
S23.10 |
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Scene: Keyamura Rokusuke spending
seven days under the Hikosan Gongen
Waterfall Robinson:
S23.11 |
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Scene: Takenori Kinsuke seated with
his bow behind him and the hat of a palace guard before him Robinson:
S23.12 |
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Scene: Kôju Maru seated grasping a
dirk and about to perform seppuku
with travelers on a mountain behind him Robinson:
S23.13 NOTE: The
term ‘hara-kiri’, although more
common in English than ‘seppuku’,
is considered in |
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Scene:
Komatsu Sammi Shigemori-kyô
in as a youth Robinson:
S23.14 |
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Scene: Kusunoki Masatsura in court
robes over armor beside an armillary sphere on a starry night Robinson:
S23.15 |
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Scene: Karumo, the dutiful girl of Matsuyama,
looking in astonishment in a mirror on the floor in which she mistakes her
own reflection for that of her dead mother Robinson:
S23.16 |
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Scene: The
dutiful youth from Mino Province carrying wood to
warm his aged father Robinson:
S23.17 |
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Scene: The
dutiful girl Nobu with her sickle on the ground
carrying a basket of rushes for her aged mother Robinson:
S23.18 |
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Scene:
Yoshioka Ichimisai’s daughter Sono
dressed as a nun and carrying a shakuhachi (traditional Japanese bamboo flute) with three
puppies at her feet Robinson:
S23.19 |
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Scene: Suketoki from Yamato visiting with his dead parents who
returned to him in the form of butterflies Robinson:
S23.20 |
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Scene: The
poetess, Suô no Naishi,
walking on a windy night Robinson:
S23.21 |
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Scene: Teruta-hime carrying a water bucket through the snow Robinson:
S23.22 |
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Another state of the above
print |
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Scene: Uneme of Atsuta exorcising a monstrous serpent from a
lake Robinson:
S23.23 |
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Scene: The
dutiful youth Yoji leading his monkey Robinson:
S23.24 |
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Scene: Yuya holding a poem-card by a blossoming cherry tree Robinson:
S23.25 Image courtesy of John Rose
and Auction Ukiyo-e Ltd. |
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Scene: Zennojô of Shinano with two
demons and one of the judges of hell seeing a vision in a large mirror Robinson:
S23.26 |
‘Robinson’ refers to listing in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its privately published supplement.
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