Skip to main content

Primary sourceBook1926

The Sacred Tree

Murasaki Shikibu · 1926

A 1926 English edition of part of Murasaki Shikibu's novel The Tale of Genji, translated by Arthur Waley.

This edition presents part of Murasaki Shikibu's own novel, translated into English long after she wrote it.

Ask Murasaki Shikibu about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Full text (Internet Archive)

About this source

What it is

This is a 1926 printed edition titled The Sacred Tree, being the second part of The Tale of Genji, written by Lady Murasaki and translated from Japanese into English by Arthur Waley with Mary MacCarthy's assistance.

Why it matters

The Tale of Genji is considered one of the earliest and greatest novels in world literature, written by Murasaki Shikibu, a woman at the Japanese imperial court. This translation helped bring her work to English-speaking readers. The preface notes how little is known about her life beyond a few facts and her own diary.

Look closer

  • Why might a translator need to explain unfamiliar religious terms to readers?
  • What does the preface tell us about how much we actually know of Murasaki's life?
  • How might translation change the way we experience a story written centuries earlier?

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.

More Murasaki Shikibu sources

Meet the AI Murasaki Shikibu →
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

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Murasaki Shikibu now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions