Murasaki Shikibu
973 CE–1014 · novelist · Japan
Arts and ideasabout 32 years old in 1005
Murasaki Shikibu, or Shijo, was a Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court in the Heian period. She was best known as the author of The Tale of Genji, widely considered to be one of the world's first novels, written in Japanese between about 1000 and 1012. Murasaki Shikibu is a descriptive name; her personal name is unknown, but she may have been Fujiwara no Kaoruko (藤原香子), who was mentioned in a 1007 court diary as an imperial lady-in-waiting.
Read more on WikipediaThe world around them · Heian-kyō, c. 1000
- Who governs
- The emperor reigns, but the Fujiwara family rules as regents.
- Everyday life
- Most people farm rice far from the capital and pay their taxes in kind.
- Arts and ideas
- Court women write in kana: The Tale of Genji, The Pillow Book.
- Meanwhile
- In China, the Song dynasty is in its first decades. In France, the Capetian kings are new.
Their life in their time
- 973 CE
- 100835 years oldThe Tale of Genji is read at courtauthor
- 101441 years oldDies
