Lady Murasaki Shikibu

Lady Murasaki Shikibu was intelligent and expressed herself with intenguity. Her words where beautiful and quiet discriptive. 'Though the body moves, the soul may stay behind'. Such a great quote about how she believes that you can go somewhere even though you know you don't want to and you will leave you soul behind. Murasaki Shikibu was born in the Fujiwara family during 973, the Hien period. Her mother soon died after Murasaki's birth, followed by Murasaki's older sister. Murasaki was very intelligent and got the chance to study alongside her brother and got to learn some Chinese classics, even thought at that time it was improper for a girl. During 999 Murasaki gave bith to her only daughter with her husband, a distant relative, two years after their marriage. In 1001, her husband passed away leaving Murasaki and her daughter to grieve. She started keeping a diary in 1008 to record her life at court. During her life at court she had to pretend she had no knowlege of Chinese because she feared criticism from jugemental people who belive that it was unladylike. Lady Murasaki's life ended in 1025.

Accomplishments

973 - Murasaki Shikibu is born999 - Murasaki's only daughter was born1001 - Murasaki's husband's death1008 - Murasaki started her diary1010 - Murasaki stopped writing in her diary1025 - Murasaki Shikibu's death

Murasaki Shikibu wrote the world's first novel. The Tale of Genji is a classic romance novel about a prince, Genji, who searches for love.Thanks to Murasaki we are able to know how life was for woman in court during the Hien period. In her diary that she wrote in for two years she put her opinons and thoughts on the different situations going on in court. According to womeninworldhistory.com she wrote 'moment in the history of our country when the whole energy of the nation seemed to be concentrated upon the search for the prettiest method of mounting paper scrolls!"'

Lasting Impact

Lady Murasaki wrote the world's first novel and showed us how it was for Japanese women in court during the Hein period

Citations

"Murasaki Shikibu." Felmale Heros of Asia: Japan. Women World History Curriculum, n.d. Web. 23 Feb 2014. "Murasaki Shikibu: Her Life." iz2.or.jp. N.p.. Web. 23 Feb 2014.

Lady Murasaki Shikibu

Biography

Timeline

Murasaki Shikibu Video