The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu (Plot Summary; Ch.

1 12)
1. The Emperor falls in love with a court lady and she becomes his new favorite. The lady Kokiden is the
Emperors oldest wife and mother of his oldest son and she is the daughter of the Minister of the Right.
Shes jealous of the court lady and turns the other ladies against her, driving her into depression. The
lady gives birth to Genji and tolerates the ladies anger because she loves the emperor, the love is
mutual. She goes home and dies, and Genji becomes the emperors new favorite, but chooses Kokidens
son to be the crown prince because he doesnt want Genji to be as isolated as his mother was. The
emperor is depressed over Genjis mothers death, but takes a new lady into his court, Fujitsubo, because
she looks exactly like his lost love. Genji feels a lot of affection for Fujitsubo and is allowed to be close
to her because he is a child. When Genji turns twelve, he has a huge ceremony for his entrance into
adulthood; it was more elaborate than the crown princes. That night, Genji is married to the Minister of
the Lefts daughter (previously denied to the crown prince), but Genji would rather stay at court to be
with Fujitsubo (separated by a curtain) than at Sanjo with his wife.
2. Genji isnt satisfied with his life so he has many unhappy affairs. He visits Koremitsus (his servant and
best friend) mother with Koremitsu because she is on her death bed, but on the way he finds himself in a
poor neighborhood where he picks a flower. The lady known as Evening Faces comes out and presents
Genji with a fan that has a love poem written on it. At this time, Genji is having an affair with a
governors wife and stepdaughter, but he finds himself attracted to Evening Faces because of her youth
and innocence. The two begin an affair but keep their identities concealed from each other because Genji
is of a much higher rank than Evening Faces is. He moves them away to a place where he only has three
servants so they can see each other in the day. But one night, an evil spirit comes to their bed and
Evening Faces has a seizure and dies. Genji is so distraught that he gets very sick for twenty days and
worries everyone. After his illness, he becomes even more handsome and returns to court. He reflects on
his affair with Ukon, Evening Faces friends, and finds out that Evening Faces had a daughter with To no
Chujo and that she was the perfect woman for Genji because her passiveness would have allowed him to
make her into any woman he wanted her to be.
3. Sick with malaria, Genji goes to a mountain temple to be cured by a hermit sage. He sees young girls
running about and discovers that Fujitsubos grandmother is there because she is sick and dying. The
grandmother/nun raises her granddaughter, Murasaki, because the girls father, Prince Hyobu, is
preparing to marry another woman who cannot stand the little girl. Genji feels instant affection for this
girl because she looks so much like her aunt, Fujitsubo. He wants to be the caretaker to this girl so he
can mold her into the perfect lover, but everyone else assumes he wants to have an affair right now and
the nuns ladies assume hes a pedophile. Genji takes a short break from the temple to go back to court
and visit the emperor but when he visits his wife, she treats him very coldly and unkindly. Back at the
temple, Fujitsubo and Genji are both being healed when they sleep together and she gets sicker and
sicker before everyone discovers she is pregnant over a course of 3-4 months. When the emperor sees
her, he believes hes the father, but Fujitsubo and Genji know the truth and try to conceal it. Murasakis
grandmother dies and she is left alone, so Genji keeps her company for the night, and then takes her
away from her home before Prince Hyobu can so that he can be her teacher. She lives in the west wing
of Genjis home in happiness with her studies, Genji, and the playmates he brings her from the east
wing. Genji adores Murasaki because she cares so much about him and reflects that this is better than a
father-daughter relationship because he can be lovers with her when she is older.

4. At the palace theres a concert where the nobles dance to music for the court to watch. Genji and To no
Chujo are the best dancers, but Genji far overshadows the latter. People begin to find out about
Murasaki, and Genjis wife is extremely jealous, although Genji feels affection for both his wife and
Murasaki, his future wife, who cannot stand to be without Genji. Genji wants to see Fujitsubo again, but
she wont see him, so he visits her brother and Murasakis father, Prince Hyobu, where both remark that
they would have an affair if they were opposite genders. Fujitsubo is late in delivering her child, but she
finally does, two months overdue, and the child looks exactly like Genji, but no one realizes that Genji is
the father. Fujitsubo still refuses to let Genji see her or his son because she doesnt want anyone to know
that she had an affair. But after exchanges letters, she agrees to keep in contact with Genji. Genji once
slept with Naishi, a very promiscuous lady, but she wants to continue the affair whereas Genji is worried
about being a cougar hunter. Because she cant have Genji, Naishi starts an affair with To no Chujo, but
still pursues Genji. Genji caves in and sleeps with Naishi again, but To no Chujo catches him and steals
his clothes and Genji takes To no Chujos off too. This incident starts a rivalry between the two and To
no Chujo despises Genji for always being better than he is. As time goes by, Genjis son grows more and
more to look like him and is being considered for crown prince and Fujitsubo is named empress.
5. At the Festival of the Cherry Blossoms, Genji and To no Chuju both dance and once again the former is
so much better than the latter. Genji writes a poem that is beautiful and moves everyone, especially the
emperor and Fujitsubo. And the end of the night, Genji is drunk and he goes into the emperors ladies
apartments to find someone to sleep with. Fujitsubos door is closed, so he goes into Kokidens
apartment because its open and shes with the emperor and the time. He meets a young lady in there
who is Kokidens sister and exchanges fans with her. Later, he tries to discover her identity but is
worried about having an affair with her because of Kokidens dislike for Genji. The minister of the
Right, Kokidens father, invites him to his home to look at the cherry blossoms, and Genji explores,
finds a room full of ladies and discovers the lady he met by asking about his lost fan. Also, Murasaki
is growing older and becoming less clingy.
6. The emperor has stepped down, and the crown prince, Kokidens son, takes the throne. Fujitsubos son
becomes the new crown prince. The Rokujo lady, who Genji rejected, has a daughter who is becoming a
high priestess and theres a large ceremony there and everyone has a well decorated carriage except for
the lady. She see Genjis wifes, Aoi, carriage and becomes very jealous of what she has. Aoi is
pregnant, and is believed to be possessed by an evil spirit. She gives birth prematurely to Genjis son and
dies, but not before speaking to Genji in the voice of the Rokujo lady. The ladys envy was so great, that
it caused Aoi to die. Although Aois father, minister of the left, and brother, To no chujo, dislike Genji
having many love affairs, they respect him when they see how much Genji mourns the passing of his
wife. He leaves Aois ladies to raise her son and spends all his time with Murasaki. However, Genji is
still in his mourning period when he realizes how Murasaki is maturing and he begins to pursue her as a
wife. Murasaki does not take the marriage well, she begins to ignore Genji and resents how secretive her
initiation to court must be.
7. (The narrator speaks I very often in this chapter) The Rokujo lady is so depressed by Genjis rejection
that she follows her daughter, the High Priestess of Ise, into solitude. Genji begins to send poems to the
priestess and she flirts back. The old emperor dies, but on his death bed, he asks the emperor to keep
Genji in his service and he asks everyone to be good to the crown prince. With the old emperors death,
The Minister of the Right gains more power and so does Kokiden and the whole court turns against
Genji, the Minister of the Left, and the empress, Fujitsubo. Fujitsubo resolves to become a nun and

declares it right before her ceremony, shocking all. Genji tries to persuade her otherwise, and she doesnt
want to leave her son behind, but she leaves the world anyways. Genji goes into mourning for the loss of
his father and Fujitsubo, but finds an unlikely friend in To no Chujo who hosts a party where all study
and recite Chinese poetry. Kokidens sister, Oborozukiyo (the sister in Ch.5), is the emperors main
concubine but she has a constant affair with Genji. One night, Genji is caught in Oborozukiyos bed with
her by her father, the Minister of the Right. The minister tells Kokiden and she furiously begins to make
plans for revenge.
8. Genji goes to visit Reikeinden, one of his fathers ladies, and is rejected by her when he comes to call.
He goes to her younger sister instead, who he has been with before, although she resents him at first for
not seeing her often.
9. Everyone now knows of Genjis affair with Oborozukiyo and the emperor banishes him to Suma, a town
on the coast far away from the city, as punishment. Murasaki is depressed because she cannot live with
him because he needs to meditate and be punished. Genji confesses he had an affair with Fujitsubo at his
fathers grave. Fujitsubo gives more affection in her letters to Genji, and Genji feels that this exile is
more punishment for his affair with Fujitsubo than with Oborozukiyo. The former governor of Akashi
thinks about giving his daughter to Genji although she is of lower rank because Genji is in exile now, but
will eventually fall back into favor. To no Chujo visits Genji at Suma and brings Genji news of his son,
Yugiris, growth, but Genji still feels lonely. Genji has a dream where an unknown man tells him that the
court summons him, so Genji decides to return to the city.
10. Genji cant leave Suma however because of a life-threatening storm. Once the storm subsides, the
former governor of Akashi (the old man), shows up in a boat and offers to take Genji to the Akashi coast
because he was told to in a dream. The old man offers his daughter, the Akashi lady, to Genji, but he
turns the proposal down and starts an affair with her, although she is off much lower rank than he is.
Shes the best koto player her father had ever seen, but Genji forgets this in the heat of passion because
he just wants sex with her. He confesses the affair to Murasaki and she barely admonishes him for
cheating on her. Meanwhile, the emperor dreams his father comes to him and tells him to accept Genji
back at court, but Kokiden tells him to ignore the ill and the two fall ill for over a year. Also, the
Minister of the Right dies. When Genji is pardoned and comes back to court, Murasaki welcomes him
back with open arms, but the Akashi lady mourns the end of his affair because she is pregnant. Despite
not wanting to be unfaithful to Murasaki, Genji sends off letters to numerous ladies once hes granted his
rank back.
11. Once Genji is back in the capital, the emperor begins to recover from his sickness. Fujitsubos son, now
eleven, becomes the new emperor and the old emperors son by Lady Shokyoden becomes the new
crown prince. Genji becomes a minister and the Minister of the Left is restored to his job and all their
men are promoted as well. The Akashi lady gives birth to Genjis first daughter, and a prophecy is
revealed where one son and daughter will be emperor and empress and the other son will become the
most powerful chancellor in the land. Genji sends many gifts to the Akashi lady and his daughter,
sparking jealousy in Muraski. The Akashi lady and Genji both make their way to Sumiyoshis shrine to
present their offerings, but the former feels shadowed because of her lower station in life and how her
daughter is low as well. The Rokujo lady gets sick and nears death, and Genji visits her before she dies,
but she tells him to take care of her daughter, the former high priestess of Ise. Together, Genji and

Fujitsubo decide the daughter, with Genji assuming the role of her father, would make a perfect consort
for the young emperor and that Fujitsubo should return to court to be the emperors mother.
12. The old/Suzaku emperor wants the Rokujos lady daughter, Akikonomu, to be his own lady, however.

Genji and To no Chubo find themselves rivals again because they want their daughters to be the
favorites of the young emperor. The emperor and Akikonomu are both excellent painters which inspires
To no Chubo to send marvelous paintings to his daughters apartments and prompts a picture contest
where the families of the two ladies send forth all the best paintings to show which girl has the most
artistic taste. The contest goes as far as a royal competition where the court ladies split to the two sides
and argue about which painting is better. The contest is about equal until Genji sends forth a scroll he
painted at Suma about his lonliness and sorrow, and Akikonomu wins the contest. Genji decides to retire
from public life at court to extend his own life because so much good has happened to him, but he
decides his children need to be educated, so perhaps he hasnt entirely given up his ambition all the way.