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Please note: This article is about the son of Hantei. For other uses of the term, please see Genji (disambiguation).
Hantei Genji 
Hantei Genji 
Born: Unknown 
Died: 247 
Parents: Hantei,
Doji Mioko 
Siblings: Otomo Yamato 
Spouse: Doji Oborozukiyo 
Children: Hantei Ningi,
Unnamed daughter 
Titles: Emperor of Rokugan
People

Hantei Genji was the son of the Kami Hantei and the second Emperor of Rokugan, who reigned as Hantei II. Hantei Genji was coronated as the new Emperor 5 months after the death of his father. He was also known as the Shining Prince, [1] the Son of Heaven, [2] and the Poet Emperor. [3] He married a Doji woman of the Crane Clan, as his father had and as many other Emperor would after him.

War Against Fu Leng[]

Before Day of Thunder[]

Genji looked so sad when the Thunders departed. [4]

Hantei's Mausoleum[]

Genji erected the Temple to Hantei after the Battle of Four Winds as a place his father could pass on in peace. [5]

Reign[]

"The crow returned from the Shadowlands, feathers black as pitch, but eyes clear with the wisdom it had gained. So began One Thousand Years of Peace."
-Genji

In the year 46, several months after the death of his father Hantei Genji was declared Hantei’s heir and the new Emperor, Hantei II. [3] His younger brother Hantei Yamato gave up the Hantei name and swore fealty to the Otomo. This began the tradition of the siblings of the Imperial Heir taking the Otomo name. [7]

First Achievementes[]

Hantei Genji was himself a fine poet, and under his reign, the arts flourished throughout Rokugan. Many of the cultural traditions of Rokugan began during his reign, no small amount of which were begun by Genji himself. The types of food eaten within the empire, interaction customs between samurai, and even the Shintao faith were developed directly under Genji. [8] He was seen as a true visionary, coupling his father's ethics and his mother's love of beauty into one feudal system, as it was portrayed in Tale of Genji. [9]

Shogunate[]

Before Sun Tao left the Empire, he proposed to Genji the creation of the shogunate. The Shining Prince was initially reluctant to share command of the Imperial forces, but eventually he was convinced about the wisdom in the proposal. [10]

Isawa's Last Wish[]

The Isawa's Last Wish was a powerful and dangerous artifact, but had not been finished and was unstable. Genji decided to hide it in a small shrine in the mountains, but the Isawa and Asako families began arguing about who would control the shrine and guard the Wish. [2]

In the year 46 [11] Genji ordered that the Wish should never be finished, and Isawa's notes be destroyed. The Wish sensed that Genji had been a good man, once, but the world had changed him. To make the Empire safe, Genji had done many terrible things. [2] In the year 47 [12] Genji tasked the Shiba family as guards of the Wish, as their bushi would not allow the device to reach out to the kami. [2]

Niten[]

The Dragon Clan presents a copy of Niten to Hantei Genji. He encouraged the Dragon to copy and distribute the book around the nascent Empire. [12]

Marriage[]

In the year 49 [12] Hantei Genji married Doji Oborozukiyo, who was called by the poets of the day "the Lady of the Misty Moon." [8] The first encounter of the couple happened during a Cherry Blossom Festival, [13] arranged by Lady Doji herself, who had found her a suitable wife for her nephew. [12]

Clan Conflicts[]

In the year 50 the Matsu family attacked the Kakita family's holdings south of Otosan Uchi, goaded by the stories of Kakita's insults against their founder. The Phoenix allied the Crane, while the Scorpion supported the Lion. Genji decreed such actions legal and honorable. The Matsu eventually halted their attacks, feeling they had proven their point. [12]

Denouncement of ancestral testimony[]

In the year 53 the Scorpion revealed that one of the "spirits" summoned by the Kitsu Sodan Senzo testifying in a particular trial was supposedly the soul of a Matsu general who was in fact still alive. Genji declared all magic invalid in legal proceedings. [14]

Shintao[]

Genji merged the twin religions of Shinseism and kami no michi. He elevated Kaze-no-Kami as te Fortune of Wind, and sanctioned the Order of the Wind and their practices as acceptable. [15] In the year 61 he ordered construction of the Shrine of Discussion, the first Shintao temple. [16]

Fox Clan[]

In the year 89 the remaining remnants of the Ki-Rin Clan petitioned the Emperor for assistance in combating bandits plaguing their lightly-populated lands. Genji ordered the Lion Clan to deal with the problem, [16] who expelled the remaining members of the Ki-Rin from their lands. In the year 90 Genji gave them new lands in the south and proclaimed them as the Fox Clan, the first Minor Clan in the Empire. He also issued an Imperial Edict forbidding full-scale warfare of Great Clans against Minor Clans. [17]

Tsi family[]

During his reign Hantei Genji was impressed with the work of the gaijin smith Tsi Wenfu and declared him no longer a gaijin and the Tsi family was founded. [18]

"The Fortunes are divine, and the Tao worldly. Together, the two speak perfectly to every soul."
-Genji

Ancestral Sword of the Hantei[]

The Ancestral Sword of the Hantei, Kunshu, was forged for Hantei Genji by the legendary swordsmith Doji Yasurugi. [20] [21]

Fox Clan Sword[]

Genji had the Ancestral Sword of the Fox Clan taken from the Fox Clan sometime during the third century. It was given to Togashi Nyoko who reforged the sword and wrapped the hilt with silk made from the Kami Shinjo. Beneath the silk was secretly, per Genji's order, hidden the Black Scroll The Walking Horror of Fu Leng. The sword was then stolen by the Scorpion Clan and hidden beneath the mountains by Otosan Uchi. As it was officially the Scorpion's duty to guard the Black Scrolls, it is very likely that Genji authorized the Scorpion to take the sword. [22]

Iaijutsu[]

In the year 152 Genji commanded Soshi Saibankan and the Emerald Champion Doji Hatsuo to re-organize the Empire's law enforcement, [23] and the next year selected Dark Edge Village to hold the Emerald Champion tournaments. [24] In the year 163 they officially issued their reforms on the Imperial Law, developing the framework for the Emerald Magistrates and the Imperial Legions. Hantei Genji sanctioned iaijutsu as the official way to settle disputes between samurai. He declared the winner of a duel was chosen by the favor of the Celestial Heavens, making it a foolproof method. [23]

Fortunes[]

In the year 175 Genji elevated the late Saibankan as Fortune of Magistrates and Judges. [25] He also elevated a farmer, Inari, as the Fortune of Rice and Good Grain. [26] He denied to grant Kaimetsu-uo the status of Fortune of Serenity. [27]

Fate of the Ki-Rin Clan[]

The blessed mirror which keeps contact with the Ki-Rin Clan had not conferred the words of Shinjo in decades. In 198 Hantei Genji gave the mirror to the Seppun Daimyo as a gift for his coronation, who swore to guard it with his life. [28] In 223 the mirror went dark and the Ki-Rin's Star banished from the sky. The Empire concluded that the Ki-Rin Clan had been lost. [25] Hantei Genji declared a festival celebrating and remembering the lost Ki-Rin. At the next Winter Court the darkened mirror was given to the Master of Air. [29]

Ascension of Hantei Genji[]

A great festival was held to celebrate the rule of the Poet Emperor, and a week later, [25] in the year 247, Hantei Genji died, but popular legend claimed that, like his father, the Shining Prince did not die, but ascended to Tengoku[30]

Notes of Interest about Genji[]

Genji forged the Kitsune Nagamaki [31] and he was considered the most skilled player in the courtly Game of Letters. [32] His story was writtten by Ikoma Noritobe in an epic tale named "The Prince of Heaven"[33]

See also[]

External Links[]


Preceded by:
Hantei
Emperor of Rokugan
46 - 247
Succeeded by:
Hantei Ningi


References

  1. The Imperial Wedding, by Rusty Priske
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 To Change the World, by Rich Wulf
  3. 3.0 3.1 Imperial Histories 2, p. 32
  4. Shadowed Souls, by Rich Wulf
  5. Otosan Uchi:Book 2, p. 83
  6. One Thousand Years of Peace (Dawn of the Empire flavor)
  7. Winter Court: Kyuden Seppun, p. 38
  8. 8.0 8.1 Winter Court: Kyuden Seppun, p. 82
  9. Winter Court: Kyuden Seppun, pp. 27-28
  10. Emerald Empire: Third Edition, p. 114
  11. Secrets of the Phoenix, p. 9
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Imperial Histories 2, p. 33
  13. Winter Court: Kyuden Seppun, p. 66
  14. Secrets of the Lion, p. 6
  15. Book of Air, pp. 96-97
  16. 16.0 16.1 Imperial Histories 2, p. 34
  17. Imperial Histories, p. 19
  18. Way of the Samurai, p. 6
  19. Shrine of Discussion (Dawn of the Empire)
  20. Passion, by Rich Wulf
  21. Immortal Steel, by Shawn Carman
  22. Nightmares, by Ree Soesbee
  23. 23.0 23.1 Imperial Histories 2, p. 35
  24. Strongholds of the Empire, p. 51
  25. 25.0 25.1 25.2 Imperial Histories 2, p. 37
  26. Roleplaying in the Emerald Empire, p. 137
  27. Book of Earth, p. 112
  28. Imperial Histories 2, p. 152
  29. Imperial Histories 2, p. 153
  30. Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game: Third Edition, p. 11
  31. The Kitsune Nagamaki (Pearl flavor)
  32. Winter Court: Kyuden Kakita, p. 68
  33. Secrets of the Lion, p. 45


Sources Conflict
The sources relating to this article are in conflict with each other.
In "Way of the Scorpion", page 34, it states the name of the emperor at the end of Bayushi Tangen's life (170) as "Hantei Goshino". Because this is contradicted by every other piece of information on the Hantei line, it is assumed that this is either incorrect or was a pet name for Hantei Genji used by Tangen.
Sources Conflict
The sources relating to this article are in conflict with each other.
Shadowed Souls names Genji a "brilliant young Emperor" in 42, although he did not become emperor until 46. It is most likely because his father was already badly wounded at this point, and Genji's succession could have been imminent.
Sources Conflict
The sources relating to this article are in conflict with each other.
In "Imperial Histories 2", page 57, claims Genji died in the year 245. Oni no Pikachu (talk) 15:12, August 22, 2014 (UTC)


Imperial This Imperial Families related article is a stub. That means that it has been started, but is incomplete. You can help by adding to the information here.
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