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Reading The Tale of Genji: Sources from the First Millennium
"The Tale of Genji," written one thousand years ago, is a masterpiece of Japanese literature, is often regarded as the best prose fiction in the language. Read, commented on, and reimagined by poets, scholars, dramatists, artists, and novelists, the tale has left a legacy as rich and reflective as the work itself.
This sourcebook is the most comprehensive record of the reception of "The Tale of Genji "to date. It presents a range of landmark texts relating to the work during its first millennium, almost all of which are translated into English for the first time. An introduction prefaces each set of documents, situating them within the tradition of Japanese literature and cultural history. These texts provide a fascinating glimpse into Japanese views of literature, poetry, imperial politics, and the place of art and women in society. Selections include an imagined conversation among court ladies gossiping about their favorite characters and scenes in "Genji"; learned exegetical commentary; a vigorous debate over the morality of "Genji"; and an impassioned defense of "Genji"'s ability to enhance Japan's standing among the twentieth century's community of nations. Taken together, these documents reflect Japan's fraught history with vernacular texts, particularly those written by women.
This sourcebook is the most comprehensive record of the reception of "The Tale of Genji "to date. It presents a range of landmark texts relating to the work during its first millennium, almost all of which are translated into English for the first time. An introduction prefaces each set of documents, situating them within the tradition of Japanese literature and cultural history. These texts provide a fascinating glimpse into Japanese views of literature, poetry, imperial politics, and the place of art and women in society. Selections include an imagined conversation among court ladies gossiping about their favorite characters and scenes in "Genji"; learned exegetical commentary; a vigorous debate over the morality of "Genji"; and an impassioned defense of "Genji"'s ability to enhance Japan's standing among the twentieth century's community of nations. Taken together, these documents reflect Japan's fraught history with vernacular texts, particularly those written by women.
632 pages, Hardcover
First published September 22, 2015
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Thomas Harper
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 15, 2015
I hope that my Goodreads friends and readers will forgive me for rating a book to which I contributed five stars. My own contribution is a small one; the five stars are for everyone else.
There has never been anything like this anthology before in English: an account, in the form of annotated translations with introductions, of the world in which Murasaki Shikibu wrote her masterpiece ("Early Discussions of Fiction"), followed by seven chapters documenting the myriad ways in which later readers responded to it. There are chapters on lists of and matches between favorite characters and scenes; the canonization of Genji; and--my personal favorite--the apocryphal chapters composed by readers who wondered how Genji and Lady Rokujō first met, for example, what happened when Genji took vows, or whether Kaoru and Ukifune ever met one another again. There is a very solid chapter on Edo-period treatises, and another on the reception of Genji in the twentieth century.
As W. J. Boot, who kindly wrote a blurb for the book, says, this source-book documents "the millennium-long love affair between a book and its readers." If you haven't read The Tale of Genji yet, do! And then dip into this. I'm sure you'll find something to delight and intrigue you.
There has never been anything like this anthology before in English: an account, in the form of annotated translations with introductions, of the world in which Murasaki Shikibu wrote her masterpiece ("Early Discussions of Fiction"), followed by seven chapters documenting the myriad ways in which later readers responded to it. There are chapters on lists of and matches between favorite characters and scenes; the canonization of Genji; and--my personal favorite--the apocryphal chapters composed by readers who wondered how Genji and Lady Rokujō first met, for example, what happened when Genji took vows, or whether Kaoru and Ukifune ever met one another again. There is a very solid chapter on Edo-period treatises, and another on the reception of Genji in the twentieth century.
As W. J. Boot, who kindly wrote a blurb for the book, says, this source-book documents "the millennium-long love affair between a book and its readers." If you haven't read The Tale of Genji yet, do! And then dip into this. I'm sure you'll find something to delight and intrigue you.
December 7, 2025
Fascinating analysis of how Genji was consumed over the past millennia.
My favorite part was the chapter where the author of Genji kept appearing in women’s dreams begging to be saved from hell for the sin of writing fiction:
“It is thus that the ghost of the one who created it as well as those who have perused it are assuredly bound in sin, trapped in the cycle of birth and death. All of them will be plunged onto the blades of the saber-branched trees of hell. As a consequence, the ghost of Murasaki Shikibu has long since been appearing in people's dreams, warning them of the gravity of this sin.”
I loved Virginia Woolf’s short essay on Genji, from the perspective of another woman writer. She extols the author’s reverence of beauty and nature, when other civilizations were in violent upheaval:
“In such an age as this Lady Murasaki, with her hatred of bombast, her humour, her common sense, her passion for the contrasts and curiosities of human nature, for old houses mouldering away among the weeds and the winds, and wild landscapes, and the sound of water falling, and mallets beating, and wild geese screaming, and the red noses of princesses, for beauty indeed, and that incongruity which makes beauty still more beautiful, could bring all her powers into play spontaneously.”
Also enjoyed the slow building of critique over the eras, and the contemporaries of the time either rejecting or building upon past analysis that you had just read in the prior chapter. Lots of disagreement over the author’s intents, initially analysis was very didactic in Buddhism or Confucianism. A later critic argued that the work was intended to showcase emotions in all its forms. I found some truth in them all.
My favorite part was the chapter where the author of Genji kept appearing in women’s dreams begging to be saved from hell for the sin of writing fiction:
“It is thus that the ghost of the one who created it as well as those who have perused it are assuredly bound in sin, trapped in the cycle of birth and death. All of them will be plunged onto the blades of the saber-branched trees of hell. As a consequence, the ghost of Murasaki Shikibu has long since been appearing in people's dreams, warning them of the gravity of this sin.”
I loved Virginia Woolf’s short essay on Genji, from the perspective of another woman writer. She extols the author’s reverence of beauty and nature, when other civilizations were in violent upheaval:
“In such an age as this Lady Murasaki, with her hatred of bombast, her humour, her common sense, her passion for the contrasts and curiosities of human nature, for old houses mouldering away among the weeds and the winds, and wild landscapes, and the sound of water falling, and mallets beating, and wild geese screaming, and the red noses of princesses, for beauty indeed, and that incongruity which makes beauty still more beautiful, could bring all her powers into play spontaneously.”
Also enjoyed the slow building of critique over the eras, and the contemporaries of the time either rejecting or building upon past analysis that you had just read in the prior chapter. Lots of disagreement over the author’s intents, initially analysis was very didactic in Buddhism or Confucianism. A later critic argued that the work was intended to showcase emotions in all its forms. I found some truth in them all.
October 23, 2023
It has been a very long while since I read a Genji-related book and I felt the urge to dive into this meaty tome. Subtitled: “Sources from the First Millenium”, Reading the Tale of Genji translates a selection of texts about the Tale of Genji, providing more context for how the tale achieved its present status and how various readers through the ages interpreted it.
The book is organised thematically, with the following chapters:
- Early Discussion of Fiction
- Genji Gossip (writings about Genji by Heian-era women)
- Towards Canonization (how Genji went from a tale for women by a woman to a man’s classic)
- Obsequies for Genji (about Buddhist rituals performed for the text)
- The Tale of Genji Apocrypha (essentially, Genji fanfiction and why it might have been written)
- Medieval Commentary
- Edo-period treatises
- Modern reception
I was going to pick my favourite chapters but honestly, all of them were illuminating, if a bit difficult to read (not the translator’s fault, it’s just… a lot). I particularly enjoyed the discussion of how Genji attained its current form of 54 chapters – I didn’t realise the text was written and distributed chapter by chapter, and that there was dispute even about the number of chapters that Murasaki had written!
The Obsequies for Genji was another interesting chapter, because it looks at how Genji was received in a time very different from when it was written. A century or two after Genji was written, Japan had been rocked by disturbances and uprisings, which had led to a climate of greater religious devotion among the Japanese elite. As such, some women felt compelled to organise rites for Murasaki Shikibu, claiming that she had appeared to them in a dream and telling them of her suffering for writing The Tale of Genji (which might be counted as a sin as it was a “falsehood”).
The last three chapters were also very interesting if you compare them against each other as they show how the tale of analysed. During the Edo period, Genji scholars moved away from Confucian and Buddhist frameworks of interpretation and tried to be more objective. They were also more concerned with making information more free and easy rather than keeping it within the family. As for modern scholars, they started by viewing Genji against Western literature and were motivated either to see it as a representative of Japanese culture or somehow inferior to the great Western classics.
As you can tell, how Genji was interpreted through the ages. But it’s clear that Murasaki’s work, though originally written for women, quickly gained popularity among the whole of the Heian elite and became suitable for ‘serious’ study. It’s a pity that we do not have more written records of how the first readers viewed the work – though the chapter of Genji Gossip does its best to translate what there is – but just viewing the evolution of Genji is fascinating enough.
I read this while on holiday, so I definitely will have to go back and read this while taking notes! It’s a very informative text and I learnt a lot about how Genji discourse has evolved within Japan. While this isn’t suitable for beginners to Genji or those who only have a casual interest in it, more passionate students and/or students of world literature are likely to find this interesting and useful.
This review was first posted at Eustea Reads
The book is organised thematically, with the following chapters:
- Early Discussion of Fiction
- Genji Gossip (writings about Genji by Heian-era women)
- Towards Canonization (how Genji went from a tale for women by a woman to a man’s classic)
- Obsequies for Genji (about Buddhist rituals performed for the text)
- The Tale of Genji Apocrypha (essentially, Genji fanfiction and why it might have been written)
- Medieval Commentary
- Edo-period treatises
- Modern reception
I was going to pick my favourite chapters but honestly, all of them were illuminating, if a bit difficult to read (not the translator’s fault, it’s just… a lot). I particularly enjoyed the discussion of how Genji attained its current form of 54 chapters – I didn’t realise the text was written and distributed chapter by chapter, and that there was dispute even about the number of chapters that Murasaki had written!
The Obsequies for Genji was another interesting chapter, because it looks at how Genji was received in a time very different from when it was written. A century or two after Genji was written, Japan had been rocked by disturbances and uprisings, which had led to a climate of greater religious devotion among the Japanese elite. As such, some women felt compelled to organise rites for Murasaki Shikibu, claiming that she had appeared to them in a dream and telling them of her suffering for writing The Tale of Genji (which might be counted as a sin as it was a “falsehood”).
The last three chapters were also very interesting if you compare them against each other as they show how the tale of analysed. During the Edo period, Genji scholars moved away from Confucian and Buddhist frameworks of interpretation and tried to be more objective. They were also more concerned with making information more free and easy rather than keeping it within the family. As for modern scholars, they started by viewing Genji against Western literature and were motivated either to see it as a representative of Japanese culture or somehow inferior to the great Western classics.
As you can tell, how Genji was interpreted through the ages. But it’s clear that Murasaki’s work, though originally written for women, quickly gained popularity among the whole of the Heian elite and became suitable for ‘serious’ study. It’s a pity that we do not have more written records of how the first readers viewed the work – though the chapter of Genji Gossip does its best to translate what there is – but just viewing the evolution of Genji is fascinating enough.
I read this while on holiday, so I definitely will have to go back and read this while taking notes! It’s a very informative text and I learnt a lot about how Genji discourse has evolved within Japan. While this isn’t suitable for beginners to Genji or those who only have a casual interest in it, more passionate students and/or students of world literature are likely to find this interesting and useful.
This review was first posted at Eustea Reads
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews