Scenes from 24 Paragons of Filial Piety

"Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety" was a popular theme in Japan, especially among the artists of the Kanô school, who frequently incorporated Chinese subject matter in their paintings. According to Confucius, filial piety was the root of all virtue, out of which grew moral conduct. By virtue he meant the principles of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, knowledge, and fidelity. One should respect and obey one's parents and elders, and one must not dishonor one's ancestors. The identification of twenty-four sons and daughters who are paragons of filial piety dates to China's Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). In this painting, Old Man Lai (dancing) plays like a child so his aged parents will not feel old. Yuan Gu's father changes his mind about abandoning his own disabled father in the mountains when Yuan Gu (pulling a cart) reminds him that he might suffer the same fate when his time comes. As rewards for their filial devotion to their mothers, Guo Ju unearths a pot of gold and Meng Zeng finds bamboo shoots -- a favorite of his mother -- unseasonably growing in winter. Min Sun (on his knee), though badly mistreated by his stepmother (her children in hand), begs his father to forgive her, saying: "If mother stays, one child will be unhappy. If mother goes, two children will suffer." She has a change of heart and mends her ways.