Artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Japanese, 1797–1861)
Title Teiran: He Carved Wood to Serve His Parents
Series The Twenty-Four Chinese Paragons of Filial Piety
Date 1848
Medium Color woodblock print on paper
Dimensions Image: 7 5/8 x 5 11/16 in. (19.4 x 14.4 cm)
Sheet: 9 3/4 x 6 3/4 in. (24.8 x 17.1 cm)
Credit Line Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University
Accession Number 76.119.22V
About this Work
This series of prints, based on a book published in 1847, was, in turn, based on a text by the Chinese scholar Guo Jujing (1271‒1368). The book recounts the self-sacrificing behavior of twenty-four filial sons and daughters. Many of the images in this series exhibit a decidedly Western influence— shadows and one-point perspective— were probably copied from Western prints.
Although the immediate source for models of proper behavior comes from Guo, the ideas are largely derived from the Analects, a collection of sayings and teachings of Chinese sage, Confucius (ca. 551‒479 BCE) compiled by his students. Confucius lived during the Eastern Zhou period (771-221) when China, no longer unified, was experiencing political and social upheaval and instability within and between fractious rival states. Confucius developed a moral philosophy based in the Chinese ideals li, an amorphous term which includes performance of sacred ritual as well proper manners, ren or compassion, and a code of conduct exemplified by the Five Relationships —between father and son, ruler and minister, husband and wife, elder brother and younger brother, and friend and friend — which, taken together, formed a matrix of social obligation. A thorough understanding of li and ren and the Five Relationships would lead to harmony both personally and within and between rival states. Although Confucius never achieved great recognition within his lifetime his teachings have had a profound effect on China in particular and East Asia in general.
This print depicts Ting Lan a dutiful son who upon the death of his parents ordered sculptures to be carved in their likeness. One day he came home to discover the statue of his mother frowning. His wife had insulted her memory. In another version of the story a neighbor stops by to borrow something. The wife consults the statue which frowns in disapproval. The neighbor strikes the statue in a fit of pique. Ting Lan seeing the hurt expression on his mother’s face and hearing the story from his wife beats the neighbor but is exonerated because of his virtuous behavior towards his parents.
