The Tale of Genji: chapters 48-49, foils, polygamy

1/ As Niou (the Third Prince) moves Naka no Kimi from Uji to court in chapter 48, I couldn’t help feeling curious and googling the distance—if I’m correct, the distance is about 3 hours and 45 minutes on foot or half an hour by car. I put in Uji bridge and Heian palace.  
Then that made me curious about the distance between the palace and Suma (Genji’s place of exile) or Akashi. Suma is about 17 hours on foot or an hour and a half by car, away from court, and Akashi to court is about 19 hours on foot or an hour and 45 minutes by car. I have no idea how long it takes the characters to travel but this kinda gives an idea of the distances. 

2/ There are several women in chapter 49 so I’m going to list them: 
- Naka no Kimi: the younger sister of Uji, who now lives in the northeast quarter of Nijo. 
- The Second Princess (Onna Ni no Miya): daughter of the Emperor and the late Reikeiden/ Fujitsubo Consort (whom the Emperor marries before meeting the current Empress). The Emperor hands her to Kaoru the same way Suzaku gives Onna San no Miya (the stupid princess) to Genji earlier. 
- Yugiri’s 6th daughter (Roku no Kimi): Yugiri wants Niou to marry her so he does, after moving Naka no Kimi to court. Her mother is neither of Yugiri’s wives (Kumoi no Kari and Ochiba) but the Dame of Staff, Koremitsu’s daughter. 
- Ukifune: an unrecognised daughter of Hachi no Miya (the Eighth Prince of Uji), half-sister of Oigimi and Naka no Kimi. 
Wouldn’t it be easier if each of the women is linked to an image, as in the Genji section? 
There is no confusion in the book itself as the characters are all distinct, it’s just a bit confusing when I write about them. 

3/ In the Uji chapters, Murasaki Shikibu seems to play around with number 2—with the idea of contrasts/ foils. 
The elder of the Uji sisters is too distrustful, the younger is too trusting—both make mistakes because of their lack or excess of trust, both suffer.  
Niou is frivolous, unreliable, and fickle of heart, Kaoru is serious and unworldly. For a large part of the book, the story revolves around a central character—Genji, then in the post-Genji section, there’s a split and the narrative moves between 2 characters, neither of whom can compare to Genji. Niou in comparison is much more selfish and callous, but also suspicious, and ends up hurting both Naka no Kimi and Roku no Kimi, whereas Kaoru, compared to Genji, is too indecisive and even passive. 
The number 2 is in other things as well. Yugiri divides his nights between 2 women at 2 different residences, even though he has children with a 3rd woman, the Dame of Staff (who was once a Gosechi dancer). 
Niou, following his mother’s advice (the Empress) about seeing Yugiri, also has 2 women. 

4/ There are another 2 characters from the Genji section about whom I’m curious, as they’re now dropped from the narrative: Akashi and Ochiba. 
Akashi is one of my favourite characters in the Genji section, together with Murasaki, because she’s a fascinating character—a proud woman who is out of place in Akashi because she’s brought up as a lady, more elegant and accomplished than the men around her deserve, but also out of place at court because of rank and because she’s an outsider. However in reality, because of her accomplishments, manners, and acute awareness, she fits in and chooses to become self-effacing, especially in the matter about her daughter. Murasaki has more space in the story but Akashi is not any less interesting, perhaps even more in a way. 
When one reads the Genji section, one doesn’t realise how remarkable it is that Genji’s women live in harmony and even get along well with each other, and Genji generally makes them feel loved and taken care of, even if they sometimes do get jealous and hurt, having to share him. But it dawns on the reader later, especially in chapter 49, when Niou has 2 wives and offends them both. He makes Naka no Kimi feel slighted when going to Yugiri’s daughter, and afterwards makes up for it by staying too long with her, so Yugiri twice has to send people to bring him back to Roku no Kimi, which makes Naka no Kimi deeply conscious of her lack of power at court, even though her father was a Prince. 
It’s a pity that we don’t see Akashi in the story anymore. As the story now revolves around Kaoru and Niou and she barely has anything to do with them, it’s understandable that she’s no longer mentioned, but because she’s so vividly alive in the Genji section, I cannot help wondering how she feels about things. 
I’m also curious about Ochiba. Her story is interesting as she’s first married to Kashiwagi, who doesn’t care about her, and a few years after his death, gets involved with Yugiri. Near the end of the Genji section, Yugiri has been harassing her to the point that her mother dies thinking her daughter is now ruined—the laughingstock of the world. Then he continues harassing her even though she’s still angry, blaming him for his mother’s death. 
Then the story is more or less cut off at chapter 39, “Evening Mist”—we know that in chapter 42, Yugiri moves Ochiba to Rokujo and divides his time equally between her and his wife Kumoi no Kari (who lives at Sanjo), but the conflict feels a bit unresolved and we don’t have access to her thoughts again. The impression is that she and Kumoi no Kari probably live in harmony, but I still want to know more about her. 

5/ The story of Ukifune is particularly interesting because so far the Eighth Prince has been seen as a holy layman, so to speak, as he is a wise man with deep understanding of the scriptures and a simple lifestyle, who is nevertheless not a monk—for years he cannot follow his desire to renounce the world because of his great concern for the 2 daughters, and even before death, having become a monk, he’s still worried about them. 
Then suddenly in chapter 49, it turns out that he has another daughter, with a gentlewoman, whom he doesn’t recognise—that’s Ukifune.   
Her existence shows that such a respectful, almost holy man has another side. That’s what I love about The Tale of Genji—people are full of contradictions. 

6/ The theme of substitution is strong in The Tale of Genji, including the post-Genji section. 
Kaoru moves his attachment to Oigimi to her sister Naka no Kimi, and continues seeking her in someone else till he comes across Ukifune. 
It’s funny that Kaoru learns about his origins and his mother’s affair with Kashiwagi as well as his biological father’s suicide, but hasn’t learnt anything from it and keeps going to Naka no Kimi, even though she now belongs to Niou. Of course he feels it his duty to make sure she is fine and has everything she needs, and he’s a kind, considerate, and attentive person, unlike Niou, but he’s still very much drawn to her. 

7/ There are a few references to Bai Juyi in chapter 49 again, including “Chang hen ge” or “The Song of Unending Sorrow”.