The monumental masterpiece The Tale of Genji
(Genji Monogatari) was written by Lady MURASAKI
SHIKIBU, circa 1001–1010, in HEIAN Japan. The
most treasured classic of Japan, this extensive work
is the world’s first novel and one of its greatest.
This early medieval Japanese classic is as complex
as DANTE’s DIVINE COMEDY and just as difficult to
summarize and to generalize about. The work falls
under the genre of monogatari—a romance tale in
prose, but it is interspersed with nearly 800 poems.
Ostensibly the protagonist is Genji (son of the emperor),
but there is an enormous cast of characters,
many of whom play central parts, and after Genji’s
death, attention shifts to subsequent generations.
By the 13th century the work’s 54 chapters had
been categorized into three major sections. Chapters
1 through 33 cover the birth and early life of
Genji. His beautiful but low-ranking mother, Kiritsubo,
was the emperor’s favorite concubine, and
his excessive attentions to her provoke the jealousy
of the First Wife and other higher women, who harass
Genji’s mother to an early death. Thus set into
action is a complex, karmic sequence of cause and
effect, which shapes the novel.
As a young man, Genji discusses love and women
with his friends, a discussion that foreshadows the
many love affairs to come. There is the Locust Shell
Lady, the one woman who resists the irresistible
Genji.His family arranges his marriage with Aoi, but
the two prove incompatible. After being warned by
his father not to snub the proud, high-ranking Lady
Rokuj¯o, Genji jilts her in favor of a younger, obscure,
low-ranking beauty (echoing his father’s marriage
and relationship with his mother). In a jealous rage,
the Rokuj¯o Lady’s murderous spirit leaves her body
at night while she is sleeping to possess and kill her
rival,Y¯ ugao—a horror witnessed by Genji. Genji witnesses
it again when the same spirit possesses and
kills Genji’s wife,Aoi.
Although the novel has a tragic tone, derived
from the Buddhist recognition of the ephemeral nature
of this world, the author nevertheless tends to
alternate serious episodes with comic ones. For instance
Genji pursues the Safflower Princess, who he
assumes is a great beauty (following Heian custom,
she would be hidden behind screens). To his horror
he finds out too late that she is the antithesis of the
idealized noble beauty: She is so shy that she cannot
speak, she cannot sing, nor write poetry, nor engage
in any of the other activities expected of such a
woman. And finally, when she does reveal her face,
it has a large bulbous nose—so she is ugly as well.
Other notable affairs from the first section include
his egregious error of fathering a child by
his father’s now favorite consort, Fujitsubo, who
gives birth to a son that everyone assumes is the
emperor’s and who will grow up to be emperor
himself—until he learns of his misconception and
retires. Genji’s affair with Oborozukiyo will anger
her powerful relatives, who will demand that he
be sent into exile as punishment.While in exile he
fathers with the Akashi Lady a daughter that he
will give to his childless primary consort,
Murasaki, upon his return from exile. Of his many
women, he favors Murasaki (the author’s nickname
derives from this character), and as Genji
ages, he spends more and more time with her.
In the second section, Genji ages and dies, and
the tone of the novel darkens. Genji agrees to marry
Nyosan, who fathers a son with Kashiwagi, the son
of Genji’s best friend, T¯o-no-ch¯uj¯o (an incident
reminiscent of Genji’s own affair with Fujitsubo).
Murasaki dies, apparently brokenhearted and worn
down by Genji’s many affairs. Genji’s son by his first
wife, Y¯ugiri, emerges as a major character, as Genji
prepares to die after burying Murasaki.
The last section of the novel is dominated by
Ukifune (the granddaughter of Y¯ugao), who is
loved by Kaoru (Genji’s supposed son by Nyosan)
and Niou (Genji’s grandson).This love triangle resembles
the love affair of Genji and Y¯ugao, who
had a daughter by T¯o-no-ch¯uj¯o. Despondent over
her concurrent relationship with them both, Ukifune
attempts to commit suicide by plunging into
a river. She is washed ashore where she is discovered
and then lives with Buddhist monks and
nuns. The novel ends with her decision to become
a nun, even though she is still a beautiful, young
woman. (In Heian Japan, conversion to the
monastic life usually occurred late in life, as death
approached; it provided a means of learning how
to forego the ephemeral things of this world to
focus on the next.)
There is much to admire about this great novel.
Although Genji is nicknamed “the shining one,”
Murasaki’s careful characterization avoids reducing
Genji to an idealistic, stereotypical hero, as
Genji’s flaws lead to mistakes that he must atone
for. Aside from the interesting psychology of her
characters, Murasaki develops central themes
drawn from her Buddhist beliefs: Karma and impermanence
are two major ones. The novel’s detailed
descriptions provide insights into life during
Heian Japan and illustrate the power politics of the
time (many scholars believe she models Genji,
other characters, and some episodes after the lives
of members of the powerful Fujiwara clan). Although
a voluminous novel with countless characters,
the careful plotting in Genji brings
coherence and unity to the work. The story, for the
most part, is chronological with time as a motif—
references to the four seasons abound.
This novel has wielded tremendous influence
over subsequent writers from Murasaki’s own time
up to today. For example Murasaki’s niece, who
wrote the Sarashina Diary (Sarashina Nikki), describes
spending her youth reading the Genji and
dreaming of a life similar to the heroines of the
novel. Then in the KAMAKURA era, N¯O DRAMA was
inspired by the enactment of episodes from the
Genji. Even today popular culture in Japan is filled
with Genji influences, as comic books and animation
illustrate.
Bibliography
Miner, Earl, Hiroko Odagiri, and Robert E. Morrell.
The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature.
Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press, 1985.
Morris, Ivan. The World of the Shining Prince: Court
Life in Ancient Japan. New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
1969.
Murasaki Shikibu. The Tale of Genji. Translated by
Royall Tyler. New York: Viking, 2001.
Stevenson, Barbara, and Cynthia Ho, eds. Crossing the
Bridge: Comparative Essays on Medieval European
and Heian Japanese Women Writers. New Middle
Ages Series, edited by Bonnie Wheeler. New York:
Palgrave/St.Martin’s, 2000.
Barbara Stevenson