The Northern and Southern Courts Period

Japanese: 南北朝時代 - なんぼくちょうじだい

A period. It refers to the 57 years from 1336, when the imperial line split into the Northern and Southern Courts, to 1392, when the two courts were united. Sometimes it also includes the three years of the Kenmu Restoration that preceded it. After the fall of the Kamakura Shogunate in 1333, Emperor Go-Daigo's restoration policies under his personal rule caused resentment among the samurai class, but Ashikaga Takauji, who had the support of the people, re-established a samurai government (the Muromachi Shogunate). To avoid the stigma of being an enemy of the court, Takauji took advantage of the conflict between imperial lines that had existed since the Kamakura period and established Emperor Komyo of the Jimyoin line to oppose Emperor Go-Daigo of the Daikakuji line. Emperor Go-Daigo traveled to Yoshino to assert the legitimacy of the imperial line, which led to conflict between the Yoshino (→ Southern Court) and Kyoto (→ Northern Court) dynasties, giving rise to the name of this period. This period can be roughly divided into three periods: (1) From December 1911 (Kenmu 3), when Emperor Go-Daigo traveled to Yoshino, to 1948 (Shōhei 3) (Teiwa 4). During this period, the Southern Court also organized activities in various places, and the conflict between the two factions was at its most intense. (2) A period of conflict within the Muromachi shogunate that lasted for about 20 years, beginning with a power struggle between Takauji's younger brother Tadayoshi and his steward Takano Moronao (→ Kan'ō Disturbance) in 1948. This was the most complicated period, and the Southern Court also engaged in small-scale activities during this gap. (3) In 1668, the central figure of the Naofuyu side, Yamana Tokiuji, surrendered, and the shogunate was put in order. The Southern Court side was confined to Mount Yoshino and the Higo mountains of Kyushu, and the shogunate established a centralized system. There were many attempts to unify the two courts, but in 1610, it finally happened, and the Muromachi shogunate achieved national unification in both name and reality under Shogun Yoshimitsu. During the Nanboku-cho period, the ruling organization of the powerful clans and feudal lords was broken down, and instead, local ties developed and small and medium-sized village headmen and farmers grew actively. Based on this, the samurai class, who wanted to escape from the rule of the manors, tried to establish feudal rule in various places. The shugo of each province organized and controlled these samurai classes as a nation, and developed into shugo daimyo, through measures such as hanzei, which dealt a blow to the power of the manors. This was a time of great social upheaval and change, when, as the word "gekokujo" suggests, ancient powers were completely overturned and feudal rule was firmly established.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

時代区分の一つ。皇統が南朝と北朝に分裂抗争した延元1＝建武3 (1336) 年から両朝が合一した元中9＝明徳3 (92) 年までの 57年間をいう。これに先行する建武中興の3年間を含める場合もある。元弘3＝正慶2 (33) 年鎌倉幕府滅亡後，後醍醐天皇の親政による復古的政策は武士階級の反感を買い，衆望を集めた足利尊氏は武家政府 (室町幕府) を再開した。尊氏は朝敵の汚名を避けるため，鎌倉時代以来の皇統の対立を利用して，持明院統の光明天皇を立てて大覚寺統の後醍醐天皇に対抗した。後醍醐天皇は吉野に遷幸して皇統の正統性を主張したため，吉野 (→南朝 ) と京都 (→北朝 ) の両王朝が対立し，この時代の名称となった。この時代はだいたい次の3期に分けて考えられる。 (1) 後醍醐天皇吉野遷幸の延元1＝建武3年 12月から正平3＝貞和4 (48) 年まで。この時期は南朝側も各地で組織的活動をしており，両派の抗争が最も激しかった。 (2) 正平4＝貞和5年尊氏の弟直義と執事高師直 (こうのもろなお) の権力争い (→観応の擾乱 ) に始る約 20年間の室町幕府内部の紛争期。最も錯雑した時期で，南朝もこの間隙に小規模な活動をした。 (3) 正平 23＝応安1 (68) 年直冬方の中心山名時氏の帰順で，幕府内が整い，南朝側は吉野山や九州肥後山中に封じ込められ，幕府による中央集権体制が確立した時期。両朝の合一はしばしば試みられたが，元中9＝明徳3年ようやく実現し，室町幕府は将軍義満のもとで名実ともに全国統一をなしとげた。南北朝時代には，豪族，領主層の惣領制的支配組織が解体し，これに代る地縁的結合の発展と，中小名主層，農民の成長が活発で，これを基盤に荘園制的支配を脱しようとする武士階層が各地で封建的支配を打立てようとした。諸国の守護は，荘園領主権力に打撃を与えた半済 (はんぜい) などにより，これら武士層を一国的に組織支配し，守護大名へと発展した。この時代は，下剋上 (げこくじょう) の言葉どおり古代的諸権力を根底からくつがえし，封建的支配を貫徹するという社会変革の激しい動乱の時代であった。

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