Portion of Text from the "Wisps of Cloud" (Usugumo) Chapter of The Tale of Genji

1600s-1700s

Portion of Text from the "Wisps of Cloud" (Usugumo) Chapter of The Tale of Genji, 1600s-1700s. Japan, Edo period (1615-1868). Album leaf; ink on dyed paper with gold; 23.3 x 21.3 cm (9 3/16 x 8 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1933.455 The calligraphy brushed on this paper, decorated with a cherry tree seen through clouds, narrates a portion of The Tale of Genji. A scene often illustrated in painted albums and later woodblock prints, it describes Genji taking leave of his love, Murasaki, to see the Akashi Lady, his other love, whose daughter, now in Murasaki's care, clings to Genji's hem as he moves to depart. Some say The Tale of Genji is the world's first novel.