The contents of this item, including all images and text, are for personal, educational, and non-commercial use only. The contents of this item may not be reproduced in any form without the express permission of Scripps College. Any form of image reproduction, transmission, display, or storage in any retrieval system is prohibited without the written consent of Scripps College and other copyright holders. Scripps College retains all rights, including copyright, in data, images, documentation, text and other information contained in these files. For permissions, please contact: Scripps College, Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery Attn: Rights and Reproductions, 1030 Columbia Avenue, Claremont, CA 91711
Description
Meiji period color woodblock print, depicting a young beauty tying up her sandal laces as she and another girl, balancing a pile of kindling on her head, are preparing to walk home. The book entitled The Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Virtue was written by the Yuan Dynasty scholar Kuo Chü-ching (pen-name Yi Dzu) while morning the death of his father. In Confucian tradition, filial piety (hsiao) was the primary duty of all Chinese. Being a filial son meant practicing absolute obedience to one's parents during their lifetime and--as they grew older--taking the best possible care of them. Kuo Chü-ching searched the histories for stories of exceptional examples of filial respect, as practiced by devoted sons and daughters throughout the centuries. He selected twenty-four such paragons and wrote a verse to eulogize each example, accompanied by a story of the events that lead to such exemplary conduct. The resulting book was called "The Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Devotion." The story parodied here is that of Zeng Shen, illustrated in the top panel. Zeng Shen was a student of the teachings of Confucius and well-known for his respect and obedience to his mother. His father had died when Shen was young, so every day he would go into the mountains to cut firewood, while his mother remained at home and wove cloth to sell. It was a difficult life but they had enough to get by. One day after Zeng Shen had left for the mountains a guest, who had traveled a long way, arrived at the Zeng house. The family being poor, Zeng's mother had nothing to offer her guest. Distressed, the mother could only hope that her son would soon return. When her son did not show, Zeng's mother grew agitated, and in her distress put her finger into her mouth and bit it so hard that it bled. Zeng Shen, in the mountains, suddenly felt a stinging pain in his heart, and knew there must be something amiss with his mother. He quickly bundled up the kindling he was gathering and ran back down the mountain to his home. Arriving there he asked his mother what was the matter. He mother, relieved with her son's return, told him "A guest has come and I was so upset that I bit my finger. You must be a truly respectful child that you can know your mother's thoughts from a distance!" (trans. Master Heng Sure at http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Fac/Adler/Reln270/24-filial2.htm)
If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.
Share your story
Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.
