Southern Court

Southern Court
南朝
Nanchō
1338–1392
CapitalYoshino, Yoshino Province
Common languagesLate Middle Japanese
Religion
Shinbutsu shūgō
GovernmentAbsolute monarchy
Emperor 
• 1336–1339
Go-Daigo
• 1339–1368
Go-Murakami
• 1368–1383
Chōkei
• 1383–1392
Go-Kameyama
History 
• Fall of Kyoto
February 23 1338
• Re-unification of Imperial courts
August 11 1392
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Kenmu Restoration
Imperial House of Japan
Later Southern Court
Ashikaga shogunate

The Southern Court (南朝, Nanchō) were a set of four emperors (Emperor Go-Daigo and his line) whose claims to sovereignty during the Nanboku-chō period spanning from 1336 through 1392 were usurped by the Northern Court. This period ended with the Southern Court definitively losing the war, and they were forced to completely submit sovereignty to the Northern Court. This had the result that, while later Japanese sovereigns were descended from the Northern Court, posterity assigns sole legitimacy during this period to the Southern Court.

The Southern descendants are also known as the "junior line" and the Daikakuji line (大覚寺統, Daikakuji-tō), Daikaku-ji being the cloistered home of Go-Uda, a Southern ruler.[1] Because it was based in Yoshino, Nara, it is also called the Yoshino court (吉野朝廷, Yoshino chōtei).[2]

  1. ^ Kanai, Madoka; Nitta, Hideharu; Yamagiwa, Joseph Koshimi (1966). A Topical History of Japan. UM Libraries. p. 42. UOM:39015005373116.
  2. ^ Brownlee, John S. (2011). Japanese Historians and the National Myths. UBC Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-7748-4254-9. [A 1911 Japanese textbook reads: 'After 1336,] the Yoshino Court was called the Southern Court, and the Kyoto Court was called the Northern Court.'