The Diary of Lady Murasaki

by Murasaki Shikibu, Richard Bowring (Introduction), Richard Bowring (Noted by), Richard Bowring (Translator)

Overview

The Diary recorded by Lady Murasaki (c. 973-c. 1020), author of The Tale of Genji, is an intimate picture of her life as tutor and companion to the young Empress Shoshi. Told in a series of vignettes, it offers revealing glimpses of the Japanese imperial palace - the auspicious birth of a prince, rivalries between the Emperor's consorts, with sharp criticism of Murasaki's fellow ladies-in-waiting and drunken courtiers, and telling remarks about the timid Empress and her powerful father, Michinaga. The Diary is also a work of great subtlety and intense personal reflection, as Murasaki makes penetrating insights into human psychology - her pragmatic observations always balanced by an exquisite and pensive melancholy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780141907659
Publisher:	Penguin UK
Publication date:	03/07/1996
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	980,972
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	3 Months

About the Author

Japanese novelist and poet, Murasaki Shikibu (c. AD 973–1025) served as a lady-in-waiting at the imperial court during the Heian period. She and other women writers of the era were instrumental in developing Japanese as a written language, and her masterpiece, The Tale of Genji, is regarded as the world's first novel.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Foreword by Amy Lowell
The Diary of Murasaki Shikibu
Appendix A
Appendix B
Notes


ILLUSTRATIONS

Old Print of a Nobleman's Dwelling in the Azumaya Style (from an old book)
Royal Dais and Kichō, Sudaré, etc. (from old prints)
A Nobleman's Carriage
Screened Dais Prepared for Royalty (from a print in an old book)