  is the protagonist of murasaki shikibu's the tale of genji. in the story, he is described as a superbly handsome man. genji is the second son of an emperor, but he is delegated to civilian life for political reasons and lives as an imperial officer. the first part of the story concentrates on his romantic life, and in the second, he and others' internal agony is depicted. he appears from the first volume "kiritsubo" to the 40th volume "illusion". "genji" is the surname as a noble demoted from royalty. his true given name is never referred to in the story, like most other characters. "hikaru" means "shining", which is a nickname deriving from his appearance. he is also referred to in the book as , sometimes abbreviated as . he is often called genji when speaking of the story. he is a fictitious person but it is thought the author was inspired by some historical figures, including minamoto no tÅru, who was a grandson of emperor saga, hence one of the saga genji clan. ==life of hikaru genji in tale of genji== the ages of characteres are counted in , as the story tells. it is common to divide the tale into three parts, and this article follows that customary, but the division is not what's given by lady murasaki. === part one === hikaru genji was born the second son of emperor kiritsubo (æ¡å£ºå¸) by his lower ranked consort, . genji was blessed with peerless beauty and genius, even from infancy, and was nicknamed "the shining prince". his mother died when he was only three years old. persuasion of the ideal of his mother is an important element which defines his love. his father emperor kiritsubo considered appointing hikaru the crown prince. he was however worried that his second son had no support from his maternal line. also discouraged by a prediction by a korean fortuneteller that the country would be thrown into chaos if hikaru would ascend to the throne, the emperor lowered hikaru's rank to civilian, giving him the clan name minamoto (genji). genji adored his stepmother , a later favorite consort of emperor kiritsubo, because of her close resemblance to the dead lady kiritsubo, and that similarity was also the reason that emperor kiritsubo had her enter his court. as a result of fujitsubo and genji's forbidden love, she bore a boy, later , to genji when he is 19, but almost no one knew the truth of his birth, and the child was raised as a prince and son of emperor kiritsubo. he had two wives in the legal sense during his life; he married lady aoi (aoi no ueï½
Fictional_nobility The_Tale_of_Genji