Primary Document from Japan

The Tale of Genji

Summary- This primary document is a series of stories written by Murasaki Shikibu around 1011ce. It was the very first novel ever written and is still very valued today. It tells about daily like during the Heian period of Japan. In the stories, different aspects of life were addressed; from the royal lives to the love lives of people. There are 54 chapters total in which Genji travels throughout the land of Japan experiencing everything there is to experience during this time period. Most of the stories relate to nature in some way and a majority involve more than one person much unlike ancient Chinese poetry and paintings. Overall, The Tale of Genji is a great example of life during the Heian period of Japan.

Relation- The way this text relates to what we discussed in class on Thursday is pretty simple. We talked about Heian period in Japan and that is what The Tale of Genji is all about. We talked about politics, samurai, the Book of Five Rings, etc. This tale is a continuation of some of the things we talked about. It gives good insight to what life was like back in that period.