Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court
978 CE
to 1025 CE
Murasaki Shikibu (English: Lady Murasaki) (c. 978 – c. 1014 or 1025) is a Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court during the Heian period.
She is best known as the author of The Tale of Genji, written in Japanese between about 1000 and 1012.
Murasaki Shikibu is a nickname; her real name is unknown, but she may have been Fujiwara Takako, who was mentioned in a 1007 court diary as an imperial lady-in-waiting.
Heian women are traditionally excluded from learning Chinese, the written language of government, but Murasaki, raised in her erudite father's household, shows a precocious aptitude for the Chinese classics and manages to acquire fluency.
She marries in her mid-to late twenties and gives birth to a daughter before her husband dies, two years after they are married.
It is uncertain when she began to write The Tale of Genji, but it was probably while she was married or shortly after she was widowed.
In about 1005, Murasaki is invited to serve as a lady-in-waiting to Empress Shōshi at the Imperial court, probably because of her reputation as a writer.
She continues to write during her service, adding scenes from court life to her work.
After five or six years, she leaves court and retires with Shōshi to the Lake Biwa region.
Scholars differ on the year of her death; although most agree on 1014, others have suggested she was alive in 1025.
Murasaki writes The Diary of Lady Murasaki, a volume of poetry, and "The Tale of Genji".
Within a decade of its completion, Genji is distributed throughout the provinces; within a century it is recognized as a classic of Japanese literature and has become a subject of scholarly criticism.
Early in the 20th century, her work is translated; a six-volume English translation is completed in 1933.
Scholars continue to recognize the importance of her work, which reflects Heian court society at its peak.
Since the 13th century, her works have been illustrated by Japanese artists and well-known ukiyo-e woodblock masters.
