DescriptionGenji chapter symbols groupings of 5 elements.svg
This table is a "Genji-Kô no zu" (源氏香の図), or listing of the symbols used for the 54 chapters of the Tale of Genji (early Japanese "novel"). Sometimes one of these is used as a mon, when it is called a "Genji-Kô mon" (源氏香紋).
These symbols indicate the possible groupings and subgroupings of five elements, from no element being grouped together with any other element (chapter 2) to all five elements joined in a single grouping (chapter 53), and everything in between.
In the notation used in the chapter symbols, elements which are under a common horizontal bar are grouped together -- except that where a vertical stem crosses a horizontal bar (as opposed to a corner or "T"), this does not indicate a grouping. So the symbols for chapters 35 and 42 (shown in red in the diagram) both indicate the same grouping: elements 1, 2, and 4 in one subgroup, elements 3 and 5 in another subgroup.
The 52 possible 5-element subgroupings were expanded to 54 (the number of chapters in the Tale of Genji) by using equivalent representations for chapters 35 and 42, and by adding a special symbol for chapter 54 (shown in green in the diagram). In the incense-distinguishing game (see en:Kōdō#Kumikō), apparently the chapter 1 symbol takes the place of the chapter 35 symbol, while the chapter 54 symbol is dropped (see File:Genjikonozu.PNG), leaving one symbol for each of the 52 possible groupings (52 is a Bell number).
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The "Genji-mon" (源氏紋) or "Genji-Kô" (源氏香) symbols used for the 54 chapters of the ''Tale of Genji'' (early Japanese "novel"). They indicate the possible groupings and subgroupings of five elements, from no element being grouped together with