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Lady Murasaki's Diary

  • Page ID
    109889
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    Lady Murasaki's Diary

    Creators: Jessalynn Bird and Brittany Blagburn.

    Who was Lady Murasaki?

    Lady Murasaki Shikibu (978-1014) was an author who also served as a lady-in-waiting to Empress Shōshi. She is best known for her novel The Tale of Genji as well as the publication of her personal diary. Lady Murasaki was descended from the aristocratic Fujiwara family and as such she was highly educated. The elevated education that she received resulted in her being fluent in Chinese. She came from a line of well known and respected poets and scholars. Her writings helped to establish the use of Japanese as a vernacular instead of Chinese and the detailing of day-to-day happenings of court life that would not have been noted in official records. They also helped to create a strong female literary culture in Japan during the Heian period due to both their popularity and longevity.

    'Lady_Murasaki',_anonymous_ink,_color_and_gold_paper_fan,_17th_century_Japan.jpg

    Lady Murasaki, anonymous ink, color and gold paper fan, 17th century Japan (Edo period), Honolulu Academy of Arts. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

     

    Central Inquiry Question:

    What can Lady Murasaki’s diary tell us about the role of women at court in Heian Japan? 

     

    Specific focus questions:

    Using the link to Lady Murasaki's diary in the central inquiry question above, try to answer the following questions.

    How would Lady Murasaki’s diary entries have differed had she not been born into the aristocracy?

    Why would Lady Murasaki have chosen to write her diary in Japanese?

    What can modern readers infer about class distinctions based on Lady Murasaki’s diary?

    What inferences can be made from Lady Murasaki's diary about expectations for men and women of differing ranks at court?

    What aspects of Lady Murasaki’s diary have allowed it to still be popular today?

    How might Lady Murasaki’s diary compare to a diary or notebook from another time period or another culture?

    How might Lady Murasaki’s role at court compare to the role of women at a medieval European or African court in the same period?

     


    Lady Murasaki's Diary is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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