The Japanese word "Monogatari" means story or miscellaneous talk. Monogatari literature is a genre of Japanese classical writing. It was produced in the Heian period and the beginning of the 10th century AD. It was formed on the basis of Japanese folk. And accepted the influence of the legendary literature of the Six Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties in my country. Before The Tale of Genji, the Monogatari literature was divided into two genres, one was the creative stories such as the Tale of Bamboo and the Tale of Rakubo, which were purely fictitious and legendary, and the other was the Uta Monogatari. , such as Ise Monogatari, Yamato Monogatari, etc., are mainly Japanese songs, and most of them are objective narratives or historical accounts. These monogatari are born out of myths and folklore. They are a literary form that transitions to independent stories. Its shortcoming is that it lacks Inner unity and artistic integrity.
In addition, The Tale of Genji is a classic Japanese literary masterpiece that has had a huge impact on the development of Japanese literature and is known as the pinnacle of Japanese literature. There is no exact date for when the book was written, but it is generally believed to be between 1001 and 1008. Therefore, it can be said that it is the earliest full-length realistic novel in the world, and it also occupies a certain position in the history of world literature.
In addition, let me introduce the Tale of the Heike. It is a long historical novel from the Kamakura period in the 13th century. It describes the competition for power between Japan's two major samurai groups, the Genji (this Genji is not the other Genji) and the Heira clan from 1156 to 1185 AD. Because it reflects the historical appearance of Japanese society during the period of transition from slavery to feudalism, and describes major historical events. The writing is vivid and both elegant and popular, so this work is very popular and the main characters are almost household names.
Sasaki Hachiro said in his The Tale of the Heike: The Tale of the Heike, as national literature, has been widely known to people for a long time, and its influence is far greater than that of The Tale of Genji.
It is worth mentioning that both The Tale of Genji and The Tale of the Taira are deeply influenced by Chinese culture. Taking Taira as an example, there are 192 verses, of which 56 contain references to Chinese classics, accounting for 29%. ***Citations of Chinese dictionary allusions***: 124, 72 of which are direct quotations from original texts, 52 of which are borrowed from Chinese allusions, 108 of which are quoted from definite sources, and the rest are general quotations and do not need to be specifically referred to. What book and what text.
The author of The Tale of Genji, Zishibe, was deeply influenced by Chinese culture since she was a child. On the basis of inheriting the literary tradition of her nation, she widely adopted Chinese poetry. Just quoting Bai Juyi's poems is enough. There are more than 90 places in it. In addition, it also quotes a lot of allusions from ancient Chinese books such as the Book of Rites, Warring States Policy, Historical Records and Hanshu.
Reference materials:
Reference materials: Introduction excerpted from The Tale of Genji and Peace Family Story (from PATLABOR’s answer)