The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki summary and analysis (most important work of Japanese literature)

The tale of Genji is considered the world’s first ever novel written exactly a thousand years ago by a female author Shikibu Murasaki or Lady Murasaki. In this video I will summarise the novel, tell you about the author and its influence on Japanese literature as well as politics. At the end I will tell you a few interesting things about the tale, so make sure you watch to the end.

**NEW VIDEO** 10 Unique things about the Tale of Genji
https://youtu.be/ydiZSOt5e5U

I'm on a journey to read unique books and stories from every country on earth , not only to understand the country, its people and culture better, but also learn storytelling so I can write my own novel one day.

A viewer (Rie) sent me this detailed message and I thought I should share with everyone.

Firstly, I saw a couple of mistakes in the slide “Japanese writing system”, so I thought it’s best to point it out. → In kana, “Japan” pronounced as nihon would be にほん、ニホン; pronounced as nippon, it would be にっぽん、ニッポン (both pronunciations are in use, the first one is more neutral); written in kanji, “Japan” is 日本. 二本 (にほん、nihon) means “two long cylindrical things”.

And as for women being forbidden to use Chinese, it is a common misconception that women knew zero Chinese and were forbidden from learning it. In fact, some of women’s positions in the imperial court required knowledge of Chinese. For more on this, I recommend Joshua S. Mostow’s chapter “Mother Tongue and Father Script: The Relationship of Sei Shōnagon and Murasaki Shikibu to their Fathers And Chinese Letters” in “The Father-Daughter Plot: Japanese Literary Women and the Law of the Father” (Eds. Rebecca L. Copeland and Esperanza Ramirez-Christensen)

Murasaki Shikibu also knew at least some Chinese. :) We know that she tutored Empress Shōshi (also read as Akiko; also known was Jōtōmon-in) in Chinese poetry and she frequently cites lines from poems of Tang poet Bai Juyi (or Po Chü-i) in Genji as well.

Murasaki in “Murasaki Shikibu” likely comes from The Tale of Genji. Prior to adopting “Murasaki” into her sobriquet she was known as Tō Shikibu.

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Italian Translator: Liana (Thank you!)

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