About This Print
Print number 9 九 from the series Moral Lessons for Daughters About the Two Sides of Life, consisting of twelve 十二 oban size prints. Each oban size print consists of two chuban size images, the top image displaying an example of bad behavior and the bottom half displaying good behavior. It is not unusual for the sheets to have been separated into two chuban size prints.In this chuban size print (the bottom half of the oban size sheet shown below) a grandmother is bathing her grandchild while the toddler's mother awaits with a robe. The father helps, as do the four good souls (zendama) dressed in white. Each zendama's face contains the character ‘zen’ 善 (goodness, virtue.)
As shown below, the top print depicts a household displaying bad behavior, apparently partying when they should be attending to their children. Five bad souls (akudama) dressed in red and identified by the character 悪 (badness, vice) in the rounds of their faces, assist their bad behavior. It usually takes more akudama to foster bad behavior than zendama to encourage good behavior.
For the origin of these zendama and akudama figures please see the article on this site titled Representations of Good and Evil: Origins of Zendama and Akudama Figures in Japanese Prints.
The uncut sheet
click on image to enlarge
About This Series
This series of prints was originally issued as a full size oban sheet containing examples of bad behavior on top and good behavior on bottom. It is not unusual for the sheets to have been cut into two chuban size prints. Each print in the series is numbered, this being number nine 九 out of a total of twelve 十二 full size oban prints.
This twelve print (24 scenes) 1873 series titled Moral Lessons for Daughters About the Two Sides of Life came on the heels of the popular 1872 series titled A Didactic Mirror of Good and Evil, both issued by the publisher Kōeidō. As shown below, the format of the prints in the two series were almost identical, the noticeable difference being the blue-colored (and on some prints, cyan-colored) background on the 1873 series.
Print two from the 1872 series
A Didactic Mirror of Good and Evil
教訓善悪鏡Print two from the 1873 series Moral Lessons for Daughters About the Two Sides of Life
娘教訓二面鏡
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #646 |
| Title or Description | No. 9 Good Example |
| Series | Moral Lessons for Daughters About the Two Sides of Life Musume kyōkun nimen kagami 娘教訓二面鏡 [also seen translated as Two Sides of Educating Daughters] |
| Artist | Shōsai Ikkei (fl. 1860-late 1870s) |
| Signature |  |
| Seal | no artist's seal |
| Publication Date |  |
| Publisher |  seal reading: Tsutakichi han 蔦吉板 |
| Carver | |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | good - fading due to abrasion in the lower right margin containing the date and publisher seals |
| Genre | ukiyo-e |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | chuban but originally issued as the bottom half of an oban-size sheet. |
| H x W Paper | 7 x 9 1/8 in. (17.8 x 23.2 cm) |
| H x W Image | 6 3/8 x 8 5/8 in. (16.2 x 21.9 cm) [area within black border] |
| Literature | |
| Collections This Print | Edo-Tokyo Museum 90200064 |
4/1/2020
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