Do you enjoy a read through some historical fiction? Oh, you do? If you’re on this website, that’s actually not particularly surprising (you big group of beautiful nerds). Well, bookworms united and give a big “thanks, girl” to Lady Murasaki. The world’s first novelist.
Born into the prestigious Fujiwara clan in 10th-century Japan, it was clear from early on that she was different from the other women in this incredibly closed-off society of women. Murasaki was wildly intelligent, we know.
What do we not know?
- Her name? Nope. No idea what her actual name was. Murasaki was a character from her book. It was actually considered a bit of a faux pas to call someone by their name.
- Her birthday? No idea. We kinda think the year was 973, but we could only guess at her astrological sign (she’s giving me Aquarius tbh)
- When she died? Nope, though Katy and Nathan do have a theory that she pulled a Tupac and faked her death to write in peace.
Despite knowing so little about her, we really did our best to dive into the life of this enigmatic and fascinating woman!
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Some sources
- https://libraryguides.bennington.edu/courtly/shikibu
- https://www.nippon.com/en/views/b09002/
- https://www.nancyduong.com/portfolio/junihitoe/
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