The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars

[3] Some of the stories in The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars were taken from other texts such as the Xiaozi Zhuan (孝子傳), Yiwen Leiju, Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era and In Search of the Supernatural.

A Buddhist bianwen titled Ershisi Xiao Yazuowen (二十四孝押座文), which was among the manuscripts discovered in Dunhuang's Mogao Caves, is the oldest extant text related to The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars.

During the Southern Song dynasty, the artist Zhao Zigu (趙子固) drew a painting, Ershisi Xiao Shuhua Hebi (二十四孝書畫合璧), about The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars.

During the Qing dynasty, Wu Zhengxiu (吳正修) mentioned in Ershisi Xiao Gu Ci (二十四孝鼓詞) that the Twenty-four Filial Exemplars were very well known.

Towards the end of the Qing dynasty, Zhang Zhidong and others edited and expanded the book and released it as Bai Xiao Tu Shuo (百孝圖說; Illustrated Hundred Stories of Filial Piety).