Quote by: Murasaki Shikibu

When my brother,…, was a young boy learning the Chinese classics, I was in the habit of listening with him and I became unusually proficient at understanding those passages that he found too difficult to grasp and memorize. Father a most learned man, was always regretting the fact: ’Just my luck!’ he would say. ’What a pity she was not born a man!’ But then I gradually realized that people were saying ’It’s bad enough when a man flaunts his Chinese learning; she will come to no good,’ and since I have avoided writing the simplest character.


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Author Bio


  • NameMurasaki Shikibu
  • DescriptionJapanese novelist, poet during the Heian period. best known as the author of The Tale of Genji
  • AliasesLady Murasaki
  • CountryJapan
  • ProfessionLady-in-waiting; Novelist; Poet; Writer
  • WorksMurasaki; Kiritsubo Emperor; Hikaru Genji