![]() ![]() ![]() ‘I cannot see the likes of Genji here, so how could she be present?’ I replied. ‘Would our little Murasaki be in attendance by any chance?’ Major Counsellor Kintō poked his head in. Such a sobriquet was logical and natural but in the imperial palace she soon became known as Murasaki Shikibu, Murasaki coming from the name of Muraski no Ue 紫の上 − one of the central characters in Genji monogatari.Īs one famous passage from Murasaki Shikibu Nikki 紫式部日記 (The Diary of Murasaki Shikibu) relates, the name of Murasaki could have been bestowed on her by one of the most talented poets of the day, Fujiwara no Kintō 藤原公任 (966–1041 Hyakunin Isshu 55) : In this early sobriquet, Shikibu 式部 relates to an office at the Ministry of Ceremonial (式部省 Shikibushō ), either held by her father or younger brother, while Tō 藤 is another reading of the first kanji of her family Fujiwara 藤原. She was first known as Tō Shikibu 藤式部, literally Lady Shikibu of Fujiwara family. While in the imperial palace, Murasaki Shikibu was not always known by her now-famous sobriquet. It is believed that it was after his death that Shikibu started writing Genji monogatari, and that by the time she entered the service of Shōshi, the tale was already of considerable fame. She was born after Shikibu married Fujiwara no Nobutaka 藤原宣孝 (?-1001) in 998, but he passed away just three years into the marriage. Murasaki Shikibu entered the Imperial palace as Shōshi ’s lady-in-waiting in 1005 or 1006, where she was part of a talented literary salon, to which Izumi Shikibu 和泉式部 (dates uncertain Hyakunin Isshu 56), Akazome Emon 赤染衛門 (dates uncertain Hyakunin Isshu 59) and Ise no Tayū 伊勢大輔 (dates uncertain Hyakunin Isshu 61) all belonged, and Murasaki Shikibu’s daughter Kenshi, better known as Daini no Sanmi, eventually joined.īy the time Murasaki Shikibu entered the imperial palace, her daughter was only a few years old. The education in Chinese classics that Murasaki Shikibu received in her youth is evident in both Genji monogatari, rich in Chinese intertext, and in her own biography, as at one point she was called to teach Chinese classics to a young Empress Shōshi (born Fujiwara no Shōshi 藤原彰子 988–1074 also known as Jōtōmon-in 上東門院). Father, a most learned man, was always regretting the fact: ‘Just my luck!’ he would say. When my brother, Secretary at the Ministry of Ceremonial, was a young boy learning the Chinese classics, I was in the habit of listening with him and I became unusually proficient at understanding those passages that he found too difficult to grasp and memorize. As she recalls in a famous passage of her diary that is now called Murasaki Shikibu Nikki 紫式部日記 (Diary of Murasaki Shikibu ): Her father was well-versed in Chinese poetry, while her great-grandfather Kanesuke was closely associated with poet Ki no Tsurayuki 紀貫之 (868?–945 Hyakunin Isshu 35), who was one of the compilers of Kokinshū 古今集 ( Collection of Early and Modern Japanese Poetry, 905).Īs a child, Shikibu was allowed to join her brother Fujiwara no Nobunori 藤原惟規 (974?–1011)] and listen to classes on Chinese classics, in which she became incredibly proficient. Murasaki Shikibu was daughter of Fujiwara no Tametoki 藤原為時 (around 949–around 1029), great-granddaughter of Middle Counselor (中納言 Chūnagon ) Fujiwara no Kanesuke 藤原兼輔 (877–933, Hyakunin Isshu 27), and mother of poetess Fujiwara no Kenshi ( Kataiko ) 藤原賢子 ( 999?–?), better known by sobriquet Daini no Sanmi 大弐三位 ( Hyakunin Isshu 58).Īlthough Shikibu’s father was a low-ranking official, who only reached the Lower Grade of Senior Fifth Rank (正五位下 shōgoi no ge ), she was was born into a family of considerable poetic pedigree. The Tale of Genji or Genji monogatari 源氏物語 that she wrote in the early 11th century is considered a seminal piece of classical Japanese literature, - its influence permeating everything from the sobriquet Murasaki Shikibu to arts and lives of the generations after her, all the way to this day. Murasaki Shikibu 紫式部 (around 973 – 1014 or 1025) is one of the most significant writers in the Japanese tradition.
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