Japanese writer. She was a lady at the court. Her masterpiece of fiction,
The Tale of Genji (
c. 1010), is one of the classic works of Japanese literature, and may be the world's first novel.
She was a member of the Fujiwara clan, but her own name is not known; scholars have given her the name Murasaki after a character in the book. It deals with upper-class life in Heian Japan, centring on the affairs of Prince Genji. A portion of her diary and a number of poems also survive.
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