Lady Murasaki (Murasaki Shikibu) was a peson in the Royal court in Kyoto during the Heian period (about 1050 ad) of Japanese history. She is credited with writing the Tale of Genji and Shikibu Nikki (Diary). In ancient Kyoto the people of the court were given names as it was rude to use their real names- so her name in English means Lady Purple. In those days China was the center of learning, and well educated people were expected to read and write Chinese, as well as be able to quote from the classics of Chinese poetry.
At school I had to read all kinds of Japanese and Chinese literature, but I didn't like to write serious analysis papers (like what does it all really mean..?)so I wrote other stuff and scraped by. Click on the below link to read a short story I wrote about Lady Murasaki for a Japanese Lit class. |
