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The Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety: The Weird and Wonderful World of Filial Devotion

Until May 6

Centered around China and East Asia, the world of Confucianism abounded with fables of devoted children performing their filial duties. From ancient times, these stories were depicted pictorially in Eastern Han tombs and mausoleums, for example. In this way, numerous tales of filial children were passed down through the ages. These included The Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety, a selection of 24 episodes first compiled in the Dunhuang manuscripts, which date from the end of the Tang era to the Five Dynasties period. The line-up of The Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety was not fixed, with selections changing according to source texts, for instance. Though sometimes extreme, these stories permeated into people’s beliefs and lifestyles.

From the Muromachi period (1392–1573), paintings and images of The Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety spread throughout Japan following the import of illustrated books like Twenty-four Illustrated Verses of Filial Piety by the Yuan-dynasty literati figure Guo Jujing (?–1354). There are hardly any extant examples of these medieval works that arrived from China or the Korean Peninsula, but Japan still has several masterful screen-and-wall paintings and fan pictures by the Kano school, Japan’s leading painting school from the Muromachi period to the Momoyama period (1573–1603).

This exhibition is the first to examine the reception and evolution of Japanese paintings of The Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety. In the past, these were solely regarded as kankaiga, or “admonition pictures” intended to convey Confucian ideas. However, pictures of The Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety have also served to honor and memorialize deceased parents. The exhibition explores this rarely-seen facet using paintings by the Kano school and others.

Finally, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to those who loaned their valuable artworks and to everyone whose cooperation made this exhibition possible.