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Secondary sourcePainting17th century

Murasaki Shikibu at Ishiyama-dera

Tosa Mitsuoki · 17th century

A painting by Tosa Mitsuoki showing the legend of Murasaki Shikibu beginning to write the Tale of Genji while gazing at the full moon at Ishiyama Temple.

Illustrates the legend of Murasaki beginning the Tale of Genji at Ishiyama Temple under a full moon.

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Painting in soft colors on gold-toned ground. A pale wooden hall with a dark tiled roof sits on a raised veranda among pine trees and rocks. Inside, a seated figure in red and white robes writes at a low desk beside a green-framed screen. Hills and a river fill the background.
Tosa Mitsuoki, Murasaki Shikibu writing at Ishiyama-dera, 17th century. Ishiyama-dera, Ōtsu.

About this source

What it is

This painting by Tosa Mitsuoki, from the 17th century, is held at Ishiyama-dera temple in Ōtsu, Japan. It shows a seated figure writing at a low desk inside a wooden hall, with hills and a river in the background.

Why it matters

The painting illustrates a legend that Murasaki Shikibu began writing the Tale of Genji at Ishiyama-dera during a full moon night in August 1004. Legends like this shaped how later generations imagined the moment her famous novel was born.

Look closer

  • What mood is created by the setting — the moonlit hall, pine trees and distant hills?
  • Since this scene is based on a legend, not a confirmed fact, how should that change the way we use this image as evidence?
  • Why might a temple want to be associated with the creation of a famous novel?

This painting 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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