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Saiunkoku Monogatari
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Rating(4.0 / 5.0, 40 votes)
5    63% (25 votes)
4    10% (4 votes)
3    8% (3 votes)
2    5% (2 votes)
1    15% (6 votes)
Language
Support Book (#ad)
Author(s)
One entry per line
Artist(s)
One entry per line
Year
Example: 2012
2003
Status in COO
Status in Country of Origin. One entry per line
18 Volumes (Complete) [Volume 17 was split into 2 volumes] + 6 Volumes (Side-Stories)
Licensed
No
Completely Translated
No
Original Publisher
One entry per line
English Publisher
One entry per line
N/A
Release Frequency
Every 5.8 Day(s)
Activity Stats
[Graph]
Weekly Rank: #2000
Monthly Rank: #11311
All Time Rank: #14133
Reading List
[Graph]
On 884 Reading Lists
Monthly Rank: #27556
All Time Rank: #9486

Description

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The Tale of Saiunkoku, set in the ancient fictional empire of Saiunkoku, follows the story of Kou Shuurei, a descendant of a noble family that has fallen on hard times. Her lifelong dream was to take the imperial examinations and enter officialdom and serve the country, a path which was forbidden to women.

Her father, who served as the Custodian of the Imperial Archives, held a post which offered prestige and respect, but little compensation. Shuurei toiled everyday, teaching in the temple school and working odd jobs to make ends meet.

Her plans, however, came to an abrupt halt when the emperor’s Grand Advisor made a startling offer, which was for her to join the inner palace for six months as the young emperor’s consort and educate him to be a responsible ruler. If she succeeded, there would be a hefty financial reward. The path to Shuurei’s dreams, once closed forever, seemed to shine with a new light as Shuurei’s journey begins as a consort in the inner palace.

The story follows Shuurei’s journey through the intrigues of court politics into becoming the first ever successful female official in the history of Saiunkoku.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Colour Cloud Palace
Tale of the Land of Colored Clouds
Tale of the Land of Many-Coloured Clouds
The Story of Saiun Country
The Story of Saiunkoku
Thái Vân Quốc Truyện
彩雲国物語
Related Series
Saiunkoku Monogatari: Kouryou no Yume (Side Story)
Saiunkoku Monogatari Secret Scroll: Ask my Bones (Side Story)
Saiunkoku Monogatari: Mixed With Vermillion, One Becomes Crimson (Side Story)
Saiunkoku Monogatari: Out of Indigo Comes Blue (Side Story)
Recommendations
Twelve Kingdoms (1)
Kusuriya no Hitorigoto (1)
Koukyuu no Karasu (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Came for the cover 2
  2. Japanese
  3. Favoritest
  4. P Ler
  5. Dark haired FL, pt 2

Latest Release

Date Group Release
06/04/25 Myldia v8c2
05/25/25 Myldia v8c1
05/15/25 Myldia v8 prologue
05/11/25 Myldia v8 opening
05/04/25 Myldia v7 epilogue
05/04/25 Myldia v7c6
05/02/25 Myldia v7c5
04/25/25 Myldia v7c4
04/04/25 Myldia v7c3
03/26/25 Myldia v7c2
03/20/25 Myldia v7c1
03/19/25 Myldia v7 prologue
03/16/25 Myldia v7 opening
03/13/25 Myldia v6 epilogue
03/13/25 Myldia v6c6
123…6
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Review
3 Reviews


Yoiya
Yoiya
Apr 13, 2020
Status: v13
As much as I love this series, there were a few parts where Shuurei really got me annoyed but what really made me give this series such a low rating score was how the author decided to end the series.

... more>>
Spoiler

Throughout the whole entire series, Shuurei consistently rejects and refuse to Ryuuki’s advances no matter how hard and how long he tries. Look, I understand what the author was trying to go for and the whole theme of this series is Women Empowerment and to show how independent and strong these female characters are. But it’s so despicable of the author to make Ryuuki go through such a rough childhood life, and make him pursue Shuurei like a madman only to be rejected because of her duty to protect and be busy about the country’s welfare, and then when she finally does accept him and marry him with the remaining life force that she has left (I think it was like a year left)... only to die during childbirth and leave Ruuuki hanging ONCE AGAIN. Yeah he’s got a daughter but that’s completely different from having an intimate partner you want to be and share everything with you know? Honestly, what the Author did to Ryuuki is just plain cruel. I’m not even sure if she really likes Ryuuki, to make him go through this kind of experience... it really makes Shuurei look bad and you feel really sorry for Ryuuki.

Spent so much time reading the series only to have this kind of ending because I was really hoping for a good ending for the both of them but you’re left very disappointed and frustrated. All because it made it seem like you wasted your sweet time for NOTHING.

[collapse]

Would I recommend this series? Yes and no. Be warned, you’re not going to like some parts and the ending. Romance is quite slow paced, more focused on politics and country welfare. Great characters and development on their part though. <<less
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Eristol
Eristol
Jun 20, 2024
Status: Completed
As the current translator, I thought I wanted to share some of the good points why this story might pique your interest. It is a very old series by light novel standards having come out in 2003. So, naturally as you can expect, its themes and tropes are very much different from the typical shoujo, romance, or harem genre in trend nowadays. Set in a setting mostly inspired from ancient China, it follows the story of Shuurei becoming the first successful female official in the country's history. The story starts... more>> off with very much comedic undertones, but it starts to get darker with progression. By the time the novel ends, people might be left with a somewhat bittersweet taste, but the way the story is written really creates an impression.

A common misconception is that this is a story of harem genre, which I wish to rectify a little. Strictly speaking, there is only one male lead in this story and one confirmed second male lead at some point. The story follows Shuurei as she ventures into the world of men as a lone women, which essentially means she is inevitably surrounded by only men, her acquaintance circle predominantly consists of men. A good part of the story fleshes out how these men in her lives come to gradually break out of the stereotype of the pre-established gender norms after their interactions and experiences with Shuurei. Strictly speaking, majority of these men are not interested in her romantically but in a much more deep and philosophical way.

Secondly, I want to talk about the protagonist (I say protagonist but the story is not strictly protagonist-centric, it follows multiple povs). Shuurei starts off as a girl from a traditional setting. At the age os sixteen, we see her as a boisterous and energetic girl with a bit of temper but a lot of kindness. She has her own insecurities where she wants to be coddled by others. Throughout the series, we see her go through hardships as she fights her way through the men's world, and she gradually grows more mature, perceptive, stable and pragmatic. Her change is very visible in the latter parts of the novel through her monologues. Shuurei is also a very complicated character despite how she appears initially, which also explains why the romance is slow. She is well aware of Ryuuki's romantic interest in her, so she is not exactly a dense protagonist. Rather than that, she harbors an inherent fear of falling back into the stereotype she has struggled so hard to break out of if she chooses to indulge herself in romance.

I also want to highlight that it is not a typical romance story. It would be "very slowburn" as some would put it, since the story in essence does not exclusively focus on romance. After all, the key point of the story lies with how the male lead, Ryuuki, a man who, for the first time, wanted to be loved by someone so he went to great lengths and beyond to win her heart by doing things that would bring her happiness, even if it meant pushing her further away from him. In a way one could say in terms of romance, this is a story of the male lead and how his love withstood the test of time to finally come into fruition.

Another aspect of this story is that it has heavy mythical and supernatural elements to it. The involvment of supernatural entities in the affairs of humans, and how their whims may have consequences actually gives a very philosophical undertone to the story.

This story also has a very large cast of characters, and through many side stories, the author really delves deep into many of these characters' lives, philosophies and experiences, which actually makes nearly every character in the story very impressionable. While most say Shuurei is the "protagonist, " there were also times I felt like Ryuuki eas the protagonist instead; the characters are so fleshed out that despite the story having one or two protagonists, it does not feel like a 2D vision. The story follows a very multi-perspective narrative throughout its plot, making it a very engaging read.

And lastly, the best part of this series is the author's use of literary devices. It may not be apparent from reading the initial volumes, but once you reach the later parts of the novel and the side stories, it really shows how beautifully the author creates monologues. For me personally, the best part of this novel was how the monologues of various characters were written. In a simple word, I can only say they were very beautiful. Those monologues were not only touching, it explored the characters so deeply that the readers would be able to relate to them on a spiritual level. Even if the genre is not your type, I would still recommend reading it just because of how beautifully the story was written. <<less
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yuminnn
yuminnn
Sep 01, 2024
Status: --
Ages has passed since I read this but I still watch the anime if I ever have free time at least once a year. This story is the most important and most influential story I have ever read during my childhood. Shuurei as heroine is very inspiring for my younger self. I admire Shuurei for chasing her dreams in a place where women don't allow her to get in and Ryuuki's character development as he start to accept his responsibility as an emperor. As for the romance, I love how... more>> slow burn it is because back then I don't understand why heroines always fell in love fast Ahem, Fushigi Yuugi's Miaka so I'm on Shuurei's side for not being interested in it. Their slowburn romance is my roman empire because I love yearners like Ryuuki. I don't mind romance-driven people now but MC like Shuurei is quite rare so I love her. I think people has a misconception about Saiunkoku because so many men like her so they assume its a romance or reverse harem. Of course, they will like her. She's literally a young lady from one of the Saiunkoku's most powerful family, Kou clan and she's an overachiever. That's not surprising at all? Don't read this for romance but for the characters. I love Ryuuki and Shuurei as a pair but I don't really mind whether they end up together or not. Saiunkoku to me is about people in Saiunkoku and not solely about romance. This is one of the few shoujo-ish story where heroine's life don't revolved around romance. Tbh the most compelling story I remember from this is not even the romance aspect? Kouyuu and Shuuei's loyalty toward Emperor Ryuuki, Kou Brothers fairytale, Kijin and Reishin's friendship with Yuushun, Kouyuu's love for his foster parents, 8 sages of Saiunkoku lore, etc. I like the supporting characters stories and unique motives. Its the type of story that made me care about everyone.

My only wish for this is I hope it will have a complete official english translation or fanmade if that's not possible so people will appreciate this story like I do. The novel version is more a Chinese dark fantasy with political intrigue than a reverse harem romance where you get to choose who's the best love interest for heroine. The whole point of the story is not Shuurei get to choose who will she end up with but its about Shuurei choosing the path she want to take without constraints! So what if she died after being with Ryuuki? This is still her choice. Her agency. Girl don't give a damn what others say. The anime cut so many dark moments. For example, when Shuurei returned by the end of season 2. Kouyuu is supposed to be imprisoned because he refuse to sell out Reishin and it get worse in the novel. Kouyuu's life as a kid is so pitiful. He's a s*ave then when he got adopted, his foster parents died then he became a human offering to gods. Reishin arrived to save him not even because he's kind but because he just want to try to be a parent imitating his older brother he admire. It really make sense why Kouyuu want to protect Reishin. I still remember how I got the chills in the revelation of Yuushun's true identity. Riou also have a very bad view about love. An anime remake would be nice with the same level of animation similar to Kusuriya no Hitorigoto. There's a Cdrama adaption soon but from what I heard from cnetizens it seem they don't have the copyrights to do that so they changed the character's names and drama's title? I really have low expectation. PS Saiunkoku is the reason why I came to know gays, aroace and bis*xual exist in this world so I'm really grateful to it. My family is extremely religous catholic that believed its a transgression so you know the drill. This is my safe heaven away from my parents closed mindset and toxic culture. <<less
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