Genryō

4to (330 x 270mm.), album mounted with 24 paintings, each leaf painted in gouache on silk with figures in various pursuits, each painting accompanied by inscriptions either in regular or running script, original silk covered concertina binding, housed in morocco-backed case, some light staining, minor worming

Cornelius J. Hauck, purchased from bookseller Emil Offenbach (1909-1990) 3 November 1955; "The History of the Book: The Cornelius J. Hauck Collection", Christie's New York, 27 June 2006, lot 21; inscription by Xuan Long, with one red seal

All Under Heaven 28

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
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FROM THE CORNELIUS J. HAUCK COLLECTION. “This early modern album of paintings and calligraphy draws on a much older Chinese text, Twenty-four paragons of filial piety (Ershisi xiao) by Gou Jujing (fl. ca. 1295-1321). A primer on one of Confucianism's primary values, it distils older tales about virtuous sons’ and daughters’ reverence for their parents and grandparents. The book was highly popular in late imperial China, and printed editions remained ubiquitous in Chinese bookstores until the middle of the twentieth century. The text also circulated widely in Edo period Japan, where the Tokugawa shogunate made Confucianism an official ideology” (All Under Heaven).

The stories recount heroic acts of filial devotion, including a young man who, realizing that he cannot afford to feed both his mother and his infant son, proposes to bury the latter; when he digs a shallow grave, he discovers a cauldron of gold.

Visual features of the illustrations indicate a Japanese origin, from the Edo period. The work’s signature and seal indicate a hitherto unknown artist, Genryō.