Sei Shonagon

Sei Shōnagon was a real-life figure in Heian Japan. She was the daughter of Kiyohara no Motosuke, a provincial governor and noted poet. Little is known of Sei’s biography beyond the experiences she records in The Pillow Book. Even her personal name isn’t known for sure—“Sei” is a variation of the family name, Kiyohara, and “Shōnagon” might be a reference to a husband’s or other relative’s rank. She was probably married to a courtier named Tachibana Norimitsu while still in her teens, and they may have had a son, but the marriage does not seem to have lasted. Sei entered Empress Teishi’s court at the imperial capital of Kyoto sometime in 993 C.E. In her late twenties at the time, she was about 10 years older than both the Empress and most of the other gentlewomen who served the Empress in court. Sei probably continued to serve in court until Empress Teishi died in the year 1000 C.E., and nothing is definitively known of Sei’s life after that point.