Kakkyo (Chinese: Guo Ju), from the series "Fashionable Japanese Versions of the Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety (Furyu Yamato nijushiko)"

Art Historical Context

In the vibrant world of 18th-century Japanese ukiyo-e, Isoda Koryusai (active 1760s–1780s) crafted *Kakkyo (Chinese: Guo Ju)* around 1770–72 as part of his series *Fashionable Japanese Versions of the Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety (Furyu Yamato nijushiko)*. This color woodblock print reimagines a classic Chinese Confucian tale of Guo Ju, a destitute man whose profound filial devotion to his aging mother leads to a miraculous discovery of buried gold, sparing his family further hardship. Koryusai transforms the moral story into a stylish, contemporary Japanese scene, featuring elegant fi...