The two great women of Japanese classical literature did not get on. Murasaki Shikibu, author of Genji, wrote that Sei Shōnagon of The Pillow Book was 'dreadfully conceited' and littered her writing with Chinese characters.
The events
- The Tale of Genjic. 1010 · Heian-kyō (Kyoto). The court lady Murasaki Shikibu wrote the story of Prince Genji's loves and life at the imperial court. Often called the world's first novel, it is the summit of classical Japanese prose.
- Sei Shōnagon's Pillow Bookc. 1002 · Heian-kyō (Kyoto). A lady-in-waiting to Empress Teishi jotted down observations, gossip and opinions on everything. Its best-known parts are 164 lists such as 'Hateful Things' and 'Things That Make the Heart Beat Faster' — a Japanese classic that reads like a blog.
More amazing facts
- 999 Pope Sylvester II's love of mathematics earned him a sorcerer's reputation.
- 1000 One elephant bird egg held as much as 160 chicken eggs.
- 1000 · 1057 The oldest book of Rus was found only in 2000: three wax tablets with psalms from early 11th-century Novgorod.
- 1000 · 1021 Vikings reached America at about the time Polynesians reached Hawaii.
- 1002 An Icelandic lawspeaker lost his job because his voice was too weak.
- 1004 Europe first saw the fork as a sin. When a Byzantine bride married into the Doge’s family around 1004 and ate with a golden fork, Saint Peter Damian denounced her decadence.