The Tale of Genji

  32. Tonomori, a court title that does not appear elsewhere in the tale and that is certainly unrelated to the old nun's present circumstances.

  33. Presumably solfège syllables.

  34. Perhaps “I never want another lover!” The poem varies on Kokinshū 1009 (a sedōka): “Beside the Hatsuse River, beside the Furu River, year after year a twin-trunked cedar stands, and O to be again together, twin-trunked cedar!” Furu River appears to be an alternate name of the river at Hatsuse. Twin-trunked evergreens at temples and shrines still evoke the image of a loving couple. Ukifune's poem plays on se (“shallow place in a stream,” “passage in life”) and furu (“live on,” and the name of the river).

  35. Kisei Daitoku, as the great master Kanren (lay name Tachibana no Yoshitoshi) was known in the early tenth century.

  36. This story has not been identified. However, the motif of a demon swallowing a hapless girl is well known.

  37. That of the spirit who had possessed her. Imijiki sama (“shocking guise”) is similar to imijiki mi (“shocking form”) and imijiki mi no kehai (“shocking appearance”), two self-descriptive expressions used by the spirit of Rokujō in “Spring Shoots II.”

  38. Gosenshū 1240, by Sōjō Henjō, when he became a priest: “Surely my mother never stroked my black hair wishing me to be what I am now.”

  39. When she received the Five Precepts given to laymen.

  40. This moment in the ordination rite immediately precedes the ordination itself.

  41. From a verse (in Chinese) that is a part of the rite: “Turning and turning among the Three Realms, [sentient beings] can never cut off obligation and affection, but in renouncing obligation and entering non-doing, they truly requite all obligation.”

  42. Her head is not to be shaven. Her hair will be cut below her shoulders, and she will not have a young woman's attractive sidelocks.

  43. In the Buddhist cosmos, dragons inhabit the depths of the waters and are the lowest of beings, but in a celebrated passage of the Lotus Sutra a young dragon girl becomes a buddha.

  44. Gifts to him from the Empress.

  45. Two lines from a poem by Bai Juyi (Hakushi monjū 0161).

  46. A place on the way down from Mount Hiei in the direction of Ono.

  47. Niou's poem to her in “A Drifting Boat,” in the house across the river.

  48. Kokinshū 747, by Ariwara no Narihira: “Is this not the moon, is this spring not the spring of old, while only I remain just as I was then?”

  49. Shūishū 1005, by Tomohira Shinnō: “Out of longing for your scent, with which I am still intoxicated, I picked this morning a branch of flowering plum.”

  50. As an offering at the ceremony.

  51. The land of the dead.

  52. Chūdō (Konpon chūdō), the central temple building on Mount Hiei. It is some distance south of Yokawa.

  53. The Medicine Buddha, whose cult flourished in Heian times. The eighth of the month was one of his feast days.

  54: YUME NO UKIHASHI

  1. Tamadono, where the body was laid out before the cremation. The tale the speaker refers to is unknown.

  2. Tengu, a shape-changing trickster often mentioned in Japanese folklore.

  3. An odd way to refer to Ono, even seen from the distance of Uji.

  4. Having been on the veranda, outside the blinds between the veranda and the aisle, he is now brought in to sit in the aisle, outside the blinds between the aisle and the chamber. The standing curtain is just inside the chamber, next to those same blinds.

  5. The mountain of love.

  6. Either the closing note of a copyist, certifying that the copy is correct, or a standard concluding formula for a tale. The Tale of the Hollow Tree, a somewhat earlier work than The Tale of Genji and roughly two-thirds its length, ends with the same words.

  Chronology

  CHAP.

  AGE

  EVENT

  1

  Genji Birth

  • Genji is born.

  3

  • Genji's mother dies and is posthumously awarded the third rank.

  4

  • The Emperor names his eldest son (age 7) Heir Apparent. The boy's mother is the Kokiden Consort, the daughter of the Minister of the Right.

  6

  • Genji's maternal grandmother dies.

  7

  • Genji gives his first reading.

  8–11

  • A Korean physiognomist foretells Genji's future. The Emperor excludes Genji from the imperial lineage and gives him the surname Minamoto (Genji). Fujitsubo (16), an earlier Emperor's fourth daughter, becomes the Emperor's Consort.

  12

  • Genji comes of age and marries Aoi (16), the daughter of the Minister of the Left

  • Tō no Chūjō Aoi's elder brother, marries the fourth daughter of the Minister of the Right.

  • The house that belonged to Genji's mother is rebuilt and becomes Genji's Nijō (“Second Avenue”) residence.

  2

  17

  • 5th month: Genji, Tō no Chūjō, and other young men discuss women in the “rainy night conversation.”

  • The next evening Genji first discovers Utsusemi.

  • Genji returns to Utsusemi's house. She evades him.

  3

  • A third visit to Utsusemi's house. By mistake, Genji sleeps with Nokiba no Ogi instead.

  4

  • Summer: Genji discovers Yūao (19).

  • 16th of 8th month: a spirit kills Yūgao. Genji remains ill until the 20th of the 9th month.

  • Genji observes the forty-ninth day after Yūgao's death.

  • 10th month: Utsusemi accompanies her husband to the province of Iyo.

  6

  18

  • Early spring: Genji first hears Suetsumuhana's kin.

  5

  • Late 3rd month: Genji seeks relief from malarial fever at a mountain temple and first sees Murasaki.

  • Fujitsubo goes home from the palace. Genji makes love to her there.

  • 6th month: Fujitsubo is three months pregnant.

  • 7th month: Fujitsubo returns to the palace.

  6

  • Circa 20th of 8th month: Genji's first meeting with Suetsumuhana.

  5

  • Late 9th month: death of Murasaki's grandmother.

  • Genji whisks Murasaki away to Nijō.

  7

  • Circa 10th of 10th month: imperial progress to Suzaku Palace. Genji dances “Blue Sea Waves.”

  • Genji rises to third rank, Tō no Chūjō to fourth rank.

  19

  • Circa 20th of 2nd month: Fujitsubo gives birth to Genji's secret son, the future Emperor Reizei.

  • 4th month: the little boy's first visit to the palace.

  • 7th month: Fujitsubo becomes Empress. Genji is appointed Consultant.

  8

  20

  • Circa 20th of 2nd month: the party under the cherry blossoms. Genji first makes love with Oborozukiyo.

  • Circa 20th of 3rd month: the wisteria blossom party at the Minister of the Right's. Genji finds Oborozukiyo again.

  Bet. 8 and 9

  21

  • Genji is promoted to Commander. The Emperor, Genji's father, abdicates. Suzaku (25) succeeds him. The future Reizei (4) becomes Heir Apparent. The Minister of the Right and the Kokiden Consort now dominate the court.

  9

  22

  • Spring: the Rokujō Haven's daughter Akikonomu (13) becomes Ise Priestess. Aoi becomes pregnant.

  • Genji's father's third daughter from the Kokiden Consort becomes Kamo Priestess.

  • 4th month: the Rokujō Haven is humiliated by Aoi in the carriage quarrel at Kamo.

  • Day of the Kamo Festival: Genji cuts Murasaki's hair and takes her to see the festival.

  • 8th month: Aoi gives birth to Yūgiri.

  • Circa 20th of 8th month: Aoi suddenly dies. Genji goes into mourning at his father-in-law's.

  • 9th month: Akikonomu mov
es to the Shrine on the Moor

  • 10th month: Genji returns to his Nijō residence, where he consummates his marriage with Murasaki.

  23

  • 1st of 1st month: Genji calls on his father and the Heir Apparent, then visits Aoi's parents.

  10

  • Circa 7th of 9th month: Genji visits the Rokujō Haven at the Shrine on the Moor.

  • 16th of 9th month: Rokujō and her daughter Akikonomu leave for Ise.

  • 1st of 11th month: Genji's father dies.

  • 20th of 12th month: end of the forty-nine days of memorial services. Fujitsubo withdraws to her own home.

  24

  • 2nd month: Oborozukiyo becomes Mistress of Staff.

  • The Kamo Priestess resigns and is succeeded by Asagao.

  • Autumn: Genji goes on retreat at Urin'in.

  • 1st of 11th month: anniversary of Genji's father's death.

  • 10th or so of 12th month: Fujitsubo holds the Rite of the Eight Discourses and becomes a nun.

  25

  • 1st month: Genji visits Fujitsubo now a nun.

  • The Minister of the Left (Aoi's father) resigns.

  • Summer: Oborozukiyo retires from the palace to her home because of illness. Genji visits her repeatedly and is found with her by her father, the Minister of the Right.

  11

  • After 20th of 5th month: Genji visits Hanachirusato.

  12

  26

  • Genji decides to exile himself to Suma. He visits Aoi's father, Fujitsubo, and the tomb of his father.

  • After 20th of 3rd month: Genji leaves for Suma.

  • 7th month: Oborozukiyo returns to the palace.

  • 8th month: the Dazaifu Deputy passes Suma. Genji exchanges poems with his daughter, the Gosechi Dancer.

  27

  • After 20th of 2nd month: Tō no Chūjō (now Consultant Captain) visits Genji at Suma.

  • 1st of 3rd month (day of the Serpent): Genji goes for purification on the shore and a great storm begins.

  13

  • Several days later Murasaki's messenger arrives from the City.

  • Genji dreams of his father, who tells him to leave Suma.

  • 13th of 3rd month: the Akashi Novice takes Genji to Akashi.

  • 1st of 4th month: the Akashi Novice gives Genji new clothes for the change of season.

  • Emperor Suzaku and the Kokiden Consort both become seriously ill.

  • The Chancellor (the former Minister of the Right, Kokiden's father) dies.

  • 13th of 8th month: Genji spends his first night with the Akashi lady.

  28

  • Circa 6th month: the lady becomes pregnant.

  • After 20th of 7th month: Genji is called back to the City.

  • 8th month: Genji returns to the City and is named Acting Grand Counselor.

  •15th of 8th month: Genji first calls on Emperor Suzaku.

  14, 15

  •10th month: Genji has the Rite of the Eight Discourses done for his father.

  14

  29

  • 2nd month: the Heir Apparent (Reizei, 11) comes of age.

  • After 20th of 2nd month: Suzaku abdicates, Reizei becomes Emperor.

  • Suzaku's son by the Shōkyōden Consort becomes Heir Apparent.

  • Genji is appointed Palace Minister; Aoi's father, Regent and Chancellor; Tō no Chūjō Acting Counselor.

  • Genji begins building the east pavilion of his Nijō residence.

  • 16th of 3rd month: the Akashi lady gives birth to a daughter.

  15

  • 4th month: Genji goes to visit Hanachirusato and discovers Suetsumuhana's ruinous house on the way there.

  14

  • 5th of 5th month: Genji sends a messenger to the celebration for his new daughter's fiftieth day.

  • Fujitsubo receives the rank of a Retired Emperor.

  • 8th month: Tō no Chūjō's daughter becomes a Consort.

  •Autumn: Genji goes on pilgrimage to Sumiyoshi. On the same day the Akashi lady arrives on her own pilgrimage, but they do not meet. Rokujō and Akikonomu return to the City from Ise. Rokujō entrusts her daughter to Genji and dies.

  16

  • 28th of 9th month: Utsusemi and her husband return to the City. Utsusemi meets Genji, who is on his way out of the City to Ishiyama.

  —

  30

  ———

  17

  31

  • Akikonomu becomes a Consort.

  • 10th or so of 3rd month: the picture contest before Fujitsubo.

  • After 20th of 3rd month: the picture contest before Emperor Reizei.

  • Genji begins building a temple outside the City.

  18

  • Autumn: Genji's east pavilion is finished. Hanachirusato moves into its east wing.

  • The Akashi lady moves to Ōi, where Genji visits her.

  19

  • 12th month: the Akashi lady cedes her daughter to Murasaki.

  32

  • Aoi's father dies

  • 3rd month: Fujitsubo becomes gravely ill, then dies.

  • On the forty-ninth day after Fujitsubo's death, an old monk tells Emperor Reizei the secret of his birth.

  • On the same day Asagao's father dies.

  • Emperor Reizei hints at abdicating in Genji's favor. Genji refuses and refuses also appointment as Chancellor.

  20

  • 9th month: Asagao resigns as Kamo Priestess because of her father's death and returns to her residence.

  • Genji calls on the Fifth Princess and on Asagao.

  • 11th month: Genji calls again on the Fifth Princess and especially on Asagao. He has a dream of Fujitsubo.

  21

  33

  • 3rd month: the first anniversary of Fujitsubo's death.

  • 4th month: Asagao changes out of mourning, and Genji visits her.

  • Yūgiri comes of age, is given the sixth rank, and enters the Academy.

  • The Lord of Ceremonial's daughter (Murasaki's younger half sister) becomes a Consort.

  • Akikonomu becomes Empress.

  • Genji becomes Chancellor

  • Tō no Chūjō is promoted to Palace Minister. He separates Kumoi no Kari (his daughter) and Yūgiri (Genji's son).

  • 11th month: Genji presents Koremitsu's daughter as a Gosechi dancer.

  • Yūgiri notices Koremitsu's daughter and gives her a note.

  • Genji entrusts Yūgiri to Hanachirusato's care.

  34

  • After 20th of 2nd month: Emperor Reizei visits Retired Emperor Suzaku.

  • Yūgiri passes his examination. In the autumn he is awarded the fifth rank and appointed Adviser.

  • Genji builds his Rokujō estate.

  35

  • Genji prepares to celebrate the fiftieth year of Murasaki's father.

  22

  • Yūgao's daughter Tamakazura, who has grown up in Kyushu, is courted by a local strongman, the Audit Commissioner.

  • 4th month: Tamakazura's nurse takes her up to the City.

  21

  • 8th month: Genji's Rokujō estate is finished, and his principal ladies-move in.

  22

  • Tamakazura, on pilgrimage to Hasedera, at last encounters Ukon. She moves to Ukon's house on Gojō.

  • Yūgiri is appointed Captain.

  21

  • 10th month: Genji takes Tamakazura into Rokujō and entrusts her to Hanachirusato

  22

  • The Akashi lady moves to Rokujō.

  • At the end of the year Genji sends gifts of clothes to his various ladies.

  23

  36

  • 1st of 1st month: Genji visits each of the Rokujō ladies.

  • 2nd of 1st month: Genji entertains New Year guests

  • 14th of 1st month: the men's mumming.

  • 15th of 1st month: Genji entertains the mummers.

  24

  • After 20th of 3rd
month: a concert in Murasaki's spring garden.

  • The next day: the spring scripture reading at Akikonomu's.

  • 4th month: Tamakazura receives letters from Hotaru, Higekuro, and Kashiwagi. Genji pursues her as well.

  25

  • 5th month, on a rainy evening: Hotaru calls on Tamakazura and sees her by the light of fireflies released by Genji.