Kuniyoshi - The Twenty-four Chinese Paragons of Filial Piety

Kuniyoshi Utagawa

Tanzi (Enshi), from the series "The Twenty-four Chinese Paragons of Filial Piety​​". This is print number 20 in the series.

Because his old parents yearn for deer’s milk,
he swathes himself in a brown furry robe.
Had he not spoken up loudly, he would have
gone home wearing an arrow from the mountains.

Zen Shi was so filial that he sought to throw away his life for his parents’ sake. The reason is this: Zen Shi’s mother and father were old, and because they both suffered from maladies of the eyes, they longed to have the milk of a deer as medicine. Because Zen Shi had always been a filial child, he wished to achieve his parents’ desire. He therefore donned a deerskin and slipped inside a large herd of deer. Seeing this, some hunters took Zen Shi to be a real deer, and they prepared to shoot him with their bows. At that moment Zen Shi shouted, “I am not a real deer! My name is Zen Shi, and I have disguised myself as a deer so that I might fulfill my parents’ desire.” The hunters were surprised, and when they asked him how this could be, Zen Shi explained everything. Thus, it was thanks to the profundity of his filial devotion that Zen Shi was able to return home without being shot. Indeed, as a person, how could anyone acquire the milk of a deer just because someone wants it? Nevertheless, it is moving to imagine the thoughtfulness of Zen Shi’s filial piety.

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 Japan as Kaku Kyokei. The book recounts the self-sacrificing behavior of twenty-four sons and daughters who go to extreme lengths to honor their parents, stepparents, grandparents, and in-laws. Many of the images in this series appear Western in style, rather than Japanese, and were probably copied from Italian prints.

Date: 1848 

Size: 10 1/4 x 7 1/4 in. (26 x 18.4 cm) 

Condition: Good color and impression, not backed, fold down center and minor glue residue on back as shown.

Genre: Ukiyo-e

Medium: Original Woodblock Print

https://woodblockprints.org/index.php/Detail/objects/278
https://collections.mfa.org/objects/217861