Tanzi (Enshi), from the series "Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety in China (Morokoshi nijushiko)"
c. 1848/50
Medium
Color woodblock print; chuban
Dimensions
25.2 × 17.7 cm (9 15/16 × 7 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
149901
Art Historical Context
In the vibrant world of 19th-century Japanese ukiyo-e, Utagawa Kuniyoshi's *Tanzi (Enshi)* from the series *Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety in China (Morokoshi nijushiko)*, created around 1848–50, captures a timeless Confucian virtue. This color woodblock print in chuban format (a compact 25.2 × 17.7 cm) draws from ancient Chinese tales popularized in Japan during the Edo period. Tanzi, a devoted son, is depicted heroically shouldering his elderly, blind mother to safety amid chaos—likely fleeing rebels—embodying *xiao*, or filial piety, one of 24 exemplary stories that taught moral lesso...
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...