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Secondary sourceBook1600s-1700s

Calligraphy of the Wisps of Cloud Chapter of The Tale of Genji

1600s-1700s

A brushed calligraphy manuscript from the 1600s-1700s presenting a passage from the Usugumo chapter of Murasaki Shikibu's novel The Tale of Genji.

A calligraphic presentation of a passage from Murasaki Shikibu's novel, showing a scene from her story of love and family.

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Portion of brushed calligraphy text on paper decorated with a cherry tree seen through clouds, from the Wisps of Cloud chapter of The Tale of Genji.
Portion of text from the "Wisps of Cloud" (Usugumo) chapter of The Tale of Genji, 1600s-1700s. The Cleveland Museum of Art.

About this source

What it is

This is a piece of brushed calligraphy on paper decorated with a cherry tree seen through clouds, dating from the 1600s-1700s and held by the Cleveland Museum of Art. It presents a portion of text from the "Wisps of Cloud" (Usugumo) chapter of The Tale of Genji, the novel written by Murasaki Shikibu.

Why it matters

The passage describes a scene from the novel in which the character Genji leaves his love Murasaki to visit another woman, the Akashi Lady, whose daughter is in Murasaki's care. This scene was often illustrated in painted albums and later woodblock prints, showing how beloved and widely retold Murasaki Shikibu's story became.

Look closer

  • How does the decorated paper connect to the mood of the passage it contains?
  • Why might this particular scene have been chosen for repeated illustration?
  • What skills would a calligrapher need to create writing like this?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Murasaki Shikibu on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Fragment of a decorated handscroll page with black calligraphic Japanese script running in vertical columns on gold-flecked paper with dark green and gold scattered patches and faint grass-like brushstrokes. A printed caption in the lower right reads in Japanese.Book

Primary source

The Tale of Genji

Murasaki Shikibu · c. 1010

Open double-page spread of a Japanese manuscript with gold and silver flecks scattered on brown-orange and dark mauve paper. Black cursive kana calligraphy runs in vertical columns on both pages.Book

Primary source

Kokin Wakashū

Ki no Tsurayuki and compilers · c. 905-920

Diary entry

Primary source

The Diary of Lady Murasaki

Murasaki Shikibu · c. 1008–1010

Scan of a page of handwritten Japanese cursive calligraphy in brown ink on pale paper, written in vertical columns. This is the final part of the Tosa Nikki diary, copied by Fujiwara no Teika in the 13th century.Diary entry

Primary source

Tosa Nikki

Ki no Tsurayuki · 935 (copy 13th century)

Photograph of the front cover of a Japanese book bound in pale green-grey paper. A vertical cream label on the cover bears brush-written Japanese characters and a small seal-like stamp appears at lower left. A color calibration chart and a metric ruler are along the edges of the image.Book

Secondary source

Eiri Genji Monogatari

Yamamoto Shunshō · 1650

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