UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)

Noting the selfless devotion Dong Yong displayed towards his father, a heavenly being takes the guise of a beautiful young woman and soon becomes his wife. After using her powers to assist him out of servitude, the celestial deity reveals her identity and ascends back to the heavens. Amidst the regulations towards much published content in the Edo period, one text that was deemed suitable for public consumption was the Chinese collection of stories Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety. Compiled in the Yuan dynasty by Guo Jujing (1279-1368), the traditional Confucian morals dictated are in stark opposition with Kuniyoshi’s markedly heterodox style. With a clear familiarity and confidence in the conventions of Western art, Kuniyoshi draws on the poses, dress, and shading of the types of Western copperplate etching and books available in Japan at the time, employing a low horizon and cloud forms directly inspired from these sources.

The same print is in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum, object no. A-10569_5374, go to:
https://webarchives.tnm.jp/imgsearch/show/C0030631

And also, for the same print in the collection of The British Museum, museum no. 1934,1013,0.29, go to:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1934-1013-0-29