The Genji Monogatari

The Fugiwara political system during the years of the middle and late Heian Period (898-1185) required that all educated Japanese men write public and private documents in Chinese script, which meant they had to master a second language in order to function in government. Women, who had been unsparingly educated in order to increase their potential for a successful court marriage, were taught the art of composition in the newly invented Japanese script, which allowed them to write in pure Japanese. Women were also the first Japanese to develop prose writing in pure Japanese and composed and read monogatari (tales) from the Heian period forward.

The Genji monogatari (The Tales of Genji) by Lady Murasaki Shikibu was written in Japanese during the last years of the 10th century, during the great age of court literature. The Genji is considered to be the greatest classical work of Japanese literature and the world's first real novel. The theme of the novel is the customs and manners at the Heian Court and focuses on the life and love relationships of Genji, a Japanese nobleman and son of the emperor. A long romantic work, the novel examines manners, passion, and love during the high age of court life in the Heian capital. It is an intensively descriptive work and concentrates on the details of clothing, refined composure, bearing and standards of behavior for both men and women. Like the century-long masterpiece of Marcel Proust, Á la recherche du temps perdu, the Genji details the changing nature of individuals over time and spans nearly three quarters of a century. Although comparisons could be made to the Arthurian cycles and the romances of Chrétien de Troyes that were composed during approximately the same period in the West, the work may have no equal in Western literature in documenting such exacting standards of human conduct and providing such detailed accounts of court activities.

The Genji monogatari has been the subject of numerous manuscripts, scrolls, paintings and theatrical productions. Many of the ukiyoe artists created illustrations for the Genji and alluded to themes and sentiments expressed in the Genji in their other works produced for a bourgeois audience that enjoyed nostalgia. In the Sweet Briar collection there are two examples of illustrations of episodes from the Genji monogatari.