Tadanori, the brother of Kiyomori the clan leader of the Taira family, and a commander, is well-known through the Tale of Heike for his poetry. Tadanori is a distinguished poet who worked with Fujiwara no Shunzei, one of the most distinguished poets of the time.
When the capital of Kyoto was being burnt down, he revealed his courage by surpassing the enemies to relay his poetry to Shunzei. Tadanori wanted to be memorialized as a poet and not a warrior. Shunzei commissioned an anthology of poems, one of which was written by Tadanori. When Tadanori faces death, he is remembered as Tadanori the Poet.
Tadazumi, a Minamoto warrior, observes Tadanori and one of Tadazumi’s attendants runs in a cuts off Tadanori’s arm. Shortly, Tadazumi cuts off Tadanori’s head. Tadanori’s death is mourned by all, even the enemy. Tadazumi even states that he had killed a worthy general, upon further examining the body, Tadazumi realizes that he had killed Tadanori from the poem attached to his quiver. As someone who was honorable and excelled at both in the field of the arts and the military.
Tadanori is remembered as a Taira who was both a great leader and artist at heart.