Murasaki Shikibu
A Heian period female author who produced Japan's oldest epic novel, The Tale of Genji
Murasaki Shikibu, a female author of the middle Heian period, wrote The Tale of Genji. It is not known when she was born or when she died, but she is believed to have been born in the latter half of the tenth century. She is also known as a poet.
The Tale of Genji contains nearly 800 of her Japanese poems, and she left about 120 Japanese poems that she wrote from her youth to old age—poems collected in Murasaki Shikibu shu (Murasaki Shikibu, Her Diary and Poetic Memoirs)
Her father, Fujiwara no Tametoki—grandson of Fujiwara no Kanesuke, middle counselor to the imperial court—was a Chinese poet who instructed Emperor Kazan. Murasaki Shikibu married Fujiwara no Nobutaka, and they had a girl, but about three years later Nobutaka died. It is thought that she started writing The Tale of Genji after the loss of her husband.
Then, perhaps owing to her literary reputation, she was asked to serve as a lady-in-waiting to Shoshi, a consort of Emperor Ichijo and a daughter of Fujiwara no Michinaga. Murasaki Shikibu served as a sort of personal tutor to Shoshi, explaining to her Bai-shi wenji (The Collected Works of Bai Juyi), a book in Chinese.
Murasaki Shikibu's service in the court of Shoshi is recorded in Murasaki Shikibu nikki (Murasaki Shikibu, Her Diary and Poetic Memoirs), written from autumn of 1008 to the first month of 1010. In this work, Murasaki Shikibu, in an epistolary style, describes the hustle and bustle of Shoshi's court and gives character evaluations of her fellow ladies-in-waiting.
What is said to be her grave is near Urin-in Temple in Murasakino, Kyoto. Her final resting place is also thought to be her birthplace. Moreover, the name Urin-in Temple appears in The Tale of Genji.
Murasaki Shikibu's court name was To Shikibu. "Shikibu" (Ministry of Ceremonial Affairs) comes from her father's office title, and "Murasaki" is thought to come from the character of that name in The Tale of Genji.
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滋賀県大津市にある寺院。紫式部は、石山寺で『源氏物語』の着想を得たとの伝説がある。紫式部に関連した文化財を多数所蔵。
国宝「紫式部日記絵巻」「源氏物語絵巻」を所蔵。どちらも年に1度展示予定。所在地は東京都世田谷区。
復元模型や映像資料を通じて源氏物語の世界を体験できる。所在は京都府宇治市。
福井県越前市にある公園。越前は国司となった父・藤原為時に随行して紫式部が訪れた地で、この公園はそれを記念してつくられた。園内には紫式部像などがある。
As Japan’s representative museum, Tokyo National Museum collects, preserves, displays, and researches the cultural properties of Asia with a focus on Japan, and also provides educational programs.
The National Diet Library (NDL), founded in 1948, is the library which belongs to the Diet. The NDL assists the activities of the National Diet. The Library collects and conserves materials and information both from Japan and abroad, serving as a foundation of knowledge and culture and providing library services to administrative and judicial entities and Japanese citizens.
External Links
国宝「紫式部日記絵巻」三段を所蔵。
国宝「紫式部日記絵詞」詞書五段、絵五段を所蔵。
References
- 日立デジタル平凡社,平凡社
