The Tale of Genji, the Uji Chapters Part I

The Tale of Genji, which consists of fifty-four chapters, is considered the oldest extant novel in the history of literature. Since the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu gave birth to this masterpiece in the early eleventh century, its timeless beauty has fascinated readers for generations, not only in the author's homeland but also in numerous countries throughout the world.
This romance is set in the stable aristocratic society of Japan's Heian Period, which began in the late eighth century and endured for almost four hundred years.
The first forty-four chapters focus mainly on the life of Genji, and the remaining chapters continue after his death, with the main action of the story shifting from central Kyoto to Uji, a tranquil village in the outer part of eastern Kyoto, where noblemen of that time owned their villas. These later chapters are called "Uji Jujo (10 chapters in Uji)."