Genchū (元中) was a

Japanese era The or , is the first of the two elements that identify years in the Japanese era calendar scheme. The second element is a number which indicates the year number within the era (with the first year being "", meaning "origin, basis"), followed b ...

of the Southern Court during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts lasting from April 1384 to October 1392.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Genchū''" i
''Japan encyclopedia,'' p. 236
n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ''see'
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File
The reigning Emperors were Go-Kameyama in the south and

Go-Komatsu was the 100th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後小松天皇 (100) retrieved 2013-8-28. and the sixth and final Emperor of the Northern Court. He is officially consi ...

in the north.

Nanboku-chō overview

During the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

, an Imperial decree dated March 3, 1911, established that the legitimate reigning monarchs of this period were the direct descendants of

Emperor Go-Daigo Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇 ''Go-Daigo-tennō'') (26 November 1288 – 19 September 1339) was the 96th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後醍醐天皇 (96) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order o ...

through

Emperor Go-Murakami (1328 – March 29, 1368) was the 97th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, and a member of the Southern Court during the Nanboku-chō period of rival courts. He reigned from September 18, 1339, until March 29, 13 ...

, whose had been established in exile in Yoshino, near Nara.Thomas, Julia Adeney. (2001)
''Reconfiguring modernity: concepts of nature in Japanese political ideology'', p. 199 n57
citing Mehl, Margaret. (1997). ''History and the State in Nineteenth-Century Japan''. pp. 140–147. Until the end of the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, the militarily superior pretender-Emperors supported by the Ashikaga shogunate had been mistakenly incorporated in Imperial chronologies despite the undisputed fact that the

Imperial Regalia The Imperial Regalia, also called Imperial Insignia (in German ''Reichskleinodien'', ''Reichsinsignien'' or ''Reichsschatz''), are regalia of the Holy Roman Emperor. The most important parts are the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire, C ...

were not in their possession. This illegitimate had been established in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

Ashikaga Takauji also known as Minamoto no Takauji was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate."Ashikaga Takauji" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. ...

Events of the Genchū Era

Northern Court Equivalents

Shitoku was a of the Northern Court during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts after Eitoku and before Kakei. This period spanned the years from February 1384 to August 1387. The emperor in Kyoto was The Southern Court rival in Yoshino during th ...

Kakei was a of the Northern Court during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts after Shitoku and before Kōō. This period spanned the years from August 1387 to February 1389. The emperor in Kyoto was Titsingh, Isaac. (1834)''Annales des empereurs ...

Kōō , also romanized as Kō-ō, was a Japanese era name (年号, ''nengō'', lit. year name) of the Northern Court during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts after Kakei and before Meitoku. This period spanned the years from February 1389 to Ma ...

Meitoku was a of the Northern Court during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts after '' Kōō'' and before '' Ōei''. This period spanned the years from March 1390 to July 1394. After October 1392, Meitoku replaced the Southern Court's nengō (''G ...

– Genchū became Meitoku 3 when the Courts were united

Notes

References

* Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). ''Japan Encyclopedia''. Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

.
OCLC 48943301
* Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''

Nihon Ōdai Ichiran , ', is a 17th-century chronicle of the serial reigns of Japanese emperors with brief notes about some of the noteworthy events or other happenings. According to the 1871 edition of the ''American Cyclopaedia'', the 1834 French translation of ...

''; ou
''Annales des empereurs du Japon''.
Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland
OCLC 5850691

External links

National Diet Library The is the national library of Japan and among the largest libraries in the world. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the in researching matters of public policy. The library is similar in purpose and scope to ...

, "The Japanese Calendar
– historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection
Japanese eras 1390s in Japan 1380s in Japan 14th-century neologisms {{Japan-era-stub