Artwork

二十四孝童子鑑 楊香|Yang Xiang (Yō Kō), from the series A Child’s Mirror of the Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety (Nijūshi kō dōji kagami)

二十四孝童子鑑  楊香|Yang Xiang (Yō Kō), from the series A Child’s Mirror of the Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety (Nijūshi kō dōji kagami), by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, ink, 1843
二十四孝童子鑑  楊香|Yang Xiang (Yō Kō), from the series A Child’s Mirror of the Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety (Nijūshi kō dōji kagami), by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, ink, 1843

二十四孝童子鑑 楊香|Yang Xiang (Yō Kō), from the series A Child’s Mirror of the Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety (Nijūshi kō dōji kagami) is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi. It dates from 1843 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this work

Overview

This woodblock print, created around 1843 by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, is part of the series A Child's Mirror of the Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety. It is held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Subject & Meaning

The print depicts Yang Xiang, a paragon of filial piety, in a tense scene with a tiger, conveying a moral allegory. Yang Xiang is shown with another figure near a tree, as the tiger approaches.

Technique & Style

Executed in ink and color on paper, the print showcases Kuniyoshi's characteristic style. The composition features a dramatic scene with a tiger, tree, and figures, set against a mountainous backdrop.

Artist & collection

Portrait of Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Artist

Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Kuniyoshi grew up in old Tokyo when the city was still called Edo. His dad ran a silk shop, but Kuniyoshi loved anything with pictures—scrolls, screens, comic books. He talked his way into the Utagawa school, a kind of…