Shōshi

Japanese literature scholar Joshua Mostow believes Michinaga provided Murasaki to Shōshi as an equally or better educated woman, so as to showcase Shōshi's court in a similar manner.

Yet, in Shōshi's salon there was a great deal of hostility towards the language—perhaps owing to political expedience during a period when Chinese began to be rejected in favor of Japanese—even though Shōshi herself was a student of the language.

Adolphson (2007), 110 Bowring writes it was "almost subversive" that Murasaki knew Chinese and taught the language to Shōshi.

After five or six years, she left court and retired with Shōshi to the Lake Biwa region.

A power struggle between Korechika and Michinaga continued until Teishi's unexpected death in 1001, which sealed Michinaga's power since Shōshi became the only empress after Teishi's death.

Bowring (1996), xv–xvii Ichijō's mother and Michinaga's sister, Senshi, had an influential salon, and Michinaga probably wanted Shōshi to surround herself with skilled women such as Murasaki to build a rival salon.

Bowring considers 1014 to be speculative, and believes she may have lived with Shōshi until as late as 1025.

Court life, as she experienced it, is well reflected in the chapters of Genji written after she joined Shōshi.

I have thought it best to say nothing about the matter to anybody." qtd in Waley (1960), ix–x render Murasaki most likely earned her second nickname, "Our Lady of the Chronicles" ( Nihongi no tsubone), for teaching Shōshi Chinese literature.

In 1000 Shōshi was announced as a Chūgū empress and the existing empress Teishi was given the title of Kōgō empress.

In 1006, Michinaga invited Murasaki Shikibu to become Empress Shōshi’s companion and tutor.

In about 1005, Murasaki was invited to serve as a lady-in-waiting to Empress Shōshi at the Imperial court, probably because of her reputation as a writer.

Michinaga's other daughters, Kenshi and Ishi, followed similar fates to Shōshi and further ensured Michinaga's power over the court.

Mulhern thinks Michinaga wanted to have Murasaki at court to educate his daughter Shōshi.

Murasaki, with her unconventional classical Chinese education, was one of the few women available to teach Shōshi classical Chinese.

Teishi died in 1001, before Murasaki entered service with Shōshi, so the two writers were not there concurrently, but Murasaki, who wrote about Shōnagon in her diary, certainly knew of her, and to an extent was influenced by her.

They contain biographical details: she mentions a sister who died, the visit to Echizen province with her father and that she wrote poetry for Shōshi.

Waley (1960), xiii Waley (1960), xi According to Waley, Murasaki may not have been unhappy with court life in general but bored in Shōshi's court.