This page catalogs all known prints in Yoshitoshi’s series ‘Moral Lessons through Pictures of Good and Evil’ (Kyōkun zenaku zukai) 1880.
教訓善悪圖解
This is a series of caricatures drawn by Yoshitoshi that illlustrate lessons in morality . There were originally issued as paired chūban prints which are, these days, commonly found separate. The chūban pairs illustrate a “good” example of behavior, followed by a “bad” example. It is interesting that many of these examples are still quite valid in our society today. This is one of a number of large chūban series that Yoshitoshi created in this timeframe. The small figures with the globe heads dancing around these prints represent good and evil, and are often seen in ukiyoe prints.
Technical details
- Dates: 1880 (2,11)
- Size: Chūban
- Signed: Yoshitoshi (also, Yonejiro Tsukioka in margin)
- Seal:
- Publishers: Tsunashima
- Engravers:
Previous cataloguings
Listed in Keyes’ thesis:
Roger. S. Keyes, "Courage and Silence: A Study of the Life and Color Woodblock Prints of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 1839-1892", Cinncinnati, 1982
where it appears as series #425;
We use the Keyes numbers to order the prints below. Please let us know if you can provide a missing image.
