TALE OF GENJI, THE

(Genji Monogatari)

byMurasaki Shikibu

(ca. 1001–1010)

The monumental masterpieceThe 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’sDIVINE COMEDYand just as difficult to summarize and to generalize about. The work falls under the genre ofmonogatari—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 Rokujō, 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 Rokujō Lady’s murderous spirit leaves her body at night while she is sleeping to possess and kill her rival,Yūgao—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, Tō-no-chūjō (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, Yūgiri, 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 Yūgao), 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 Yūgao, who had a daughter by Tō-no-chūjō. 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 inGenjibrings 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 theSarashina Diary(Sarashina Nikki), describes spending her youth reading theGenjiand dreaming of a life similar to the heroines of the novel. Then in the KAMAKURA era, Nō DRAMA was inspired by the enactment of episodes from theGenji. Even today popular culture in Japan is filled withGenjiinfluences, as comic books and animation illustrate.

■ 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.