I bought a Chinese book about the lady characters in 源式物语, and now my interest in the Genji Monogatari is piqued. It is supposed to be the world's first novel, written in 1oo1, by Murasaki Shikibu. Now I am reading The Tale of Murasaki by Liza Dalby ISBN 0099284642 Vintage 2001, as a guide. There really is a lot of scholars out there who are interested in this topic, and I have not decided whose translation should I pursue.