Murasaki Shikibu’s Her Diary and Poetic Memoirs

[David Ojeda]

Murasaki Shikibu’s Her Diary and Poetic Memoirs echoes the ideas that can be found in Pan Chao: Foremost Woman Scholar of China. In the excerpt, Murasaki Shikibu discusses Saemon no Naishi, a woman who spread “malicious rumors” that made it seem Shikibu was learned or perhaps flaunting her education. Upon hearing this, Shikibu “worried what people would think if people heard such rumors…[she] pretended to be unable to read even the inscriptions on the screens” (139). I think the latter connects to Pan Chao: Foremost Woman Scholar of China. When discussing the qualities a female must exude, the speaker mentions that females must not demonstrate excessive womanly virtues, words, bearings, and work. However, females must also not demonstrate a paucity amount of these qualifications; females must blend in with other females. Perhaps Saemon no Naishi’s comment, and even that of His Majesty who compliments Shikibu (“She seems very learned”), went against the norms and gender expectations that one finds in Pan Chao… I find it very interesting that Her Majesty, upon hearing of Shikibu, had a desire to learn via Shikibu but did so in private. I would love to incorporate this in class to have my 6th graders explore what it reveals about the culture of the time and determine to what extent it has progressed or stagnated, and possibly debate if that progress or stagnation is beneficial or detrimental.