Kibi ehime from the Chronicles of Japan (Kibi ehime, Nihongi), from the series "Twenty-four Japanese Paragons of Filial Piety for the Honcho Circle (Honchoren Honcho nijushiko)"

This shikishiban surimono from the Honchoren Honcho nijushiko depicts Kibi Ehime, a filial exemplar drawn from the Nihongi, the Chronicles of Japan, one of the oldest and most authoritative classical texts in the Japanese tradition. Held by the Art Institute of Chicago and dated to around 1821, the print exemplifies the most ambitious source-text choices in Gakutei's series, since the Nihongi, compiled in the early eighth century, carried the highest possible prestige as a foundational document of Japanese historical identity. By drawing Kibi Ehime from this source, Gakutei and the Honchoren poets signal that their alternative to the Chinese Twenty-four Paragons rests on the deepest layers of native textual tradition. The figure is rendered with restrained linear precision typical of the series, with metallic pigments reserved for the robes and ground, allowing the moral and historical weight of the source to carry without ornamental distraction.