A Japanese woman in the 10th century was the world's first blogger.
I'm just throwing that out there.
The same generation that produced the world's first novel (from Murasaki Shikibu, whom Sei Shonagon made fun of) also produced the first blogger. Turns out, you don't need the internet to have a blog. Sei proved that.
Look at the evidence. She wrote a beautiful piece of work that is both private and also secretly public -- in other words, the LiveJournal of the Heian Court. She gossiped about other people and bragged about herself. And oh boy, did she ever love her lists.
Sei Shonagon was over-educated. By the standards of the time, I mean. Women weren't supposed to know Chinese, and in fact Sei hid how smart she was. Except on her blog, where she admitted she knew Chinese and how embarrassing if anyone else found that out!
She was the grandmother of the Humblebrag(TM). Seriously, check this out:
"...I never intended that [the Pillow Book] should be placed alongside other books and judged on a par with them. I'm utterly perplexed to hear that people who've read my work have said it makes them feel humble in the face of it." SURE, SEI.
She even goes on to say "Anyway, it does upset me that people have seen these pages." RIGHT. That's why you're so careful to detail all your clever jokes and your beautiful poems that everyone, in your own narrative at least, agrees are the best.
And the lists -- oh, the lists! One thousand years before Buzzfeed was listing 11 things about Cats, Sei compiled such amazing lists as "Common things that suddenly sound special" (ox carts, someone clearing his throat at dawn); "Worthless things" (Someone who's both ugly and unpleasant! AMIRITE?) "Things that should be big" (Houses, naturally; Priests also, apparently); "Things that a house should have" (Large serving girls and Chinese-style umbrellas, among other things!)
I love Sei Shonagon and her gossipy Pillow Book. And she had the gift that the best bloggers have, of making me feel like I know her IRL. Across time and across the ocean.
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