Dong Yong (Toei), from the series "Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety as a Mirror for Children (Nijushiko doji kagami)"
c. 1843
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
24.7 × 36.4 cm (9 3/4 × 14 5/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
29550
Art Historical Context
In the vibrant world of 19th-century Japanese ukiyo-e, Utagawa Kuniyoshi's *Dong Yong (Toei)* from the series *Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety as a Mirror for Children* (. 1843) stands as a captivating woodblock print. This oban-sized color woodblock (24.7 × 364 cm) depicts the legendary Chinese tale of Dong Yong, a devoted son who sold himself into servitude to afford a proper burial for his father. Kuniyoshi, renowned for his dynamic warrior prints and imaginative compositions, here adapts Confucian moral stories into accessible visuals for young audiences, blending drama with ethical i...
About the Artist
Utagawa Kuniyoshi · 1797–1861
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861) was born in Edo to the silk-dyer Yanagiya Kichiyemon, originally bearing the childhood name Yoshisaburō. From a young age, he assisted in his family's pattern design work, which sharpened his innate mastery of color and textile motifs that would permeate his later prints. At around twelve years old, his prodigious drawing skills drew the attention of the renowned Utag...