Gekokujo: folklore, reformation and suppression in the Samurai era

© 2019 Jake BattyWhilst the concept of gekokujo (low overcoming high) is well documented in the study of medieval Japan it has traditionally been confined to the militarism that characterized the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. This is not without reason as the phrase tends to appear more frequently in the historical record after the Onin War which began in 1467. The purpose of this thesis is essentially to expand these parameters and consider the role of gekokujo in Japanese society prior to this event, as well as to consider the various civil or literary contexts to which gekokujo may have applied. By utilizing a wide range of sources from folk stories to clan codes and shogunate case rulings this thesis examines gekokujo and its applications from the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate in 1192 to the conclusion of the Sengoku Period in the year 1600. The thesis has three main assertions: 1) Evidence of gekokujo as a thematic concept can be traced at least as far back as the emergent Japanese folklore of the 13th century. 2) Gekokujo may have civil as well as military manifestations. 3) The concept of gekokujo influenced civil, legislative and social systems. The manner by which the latter occurred was dependent upon time and region. Whereas under the Kamakura regime it could be argued that gekokujo played a role in mechanisms of meritocratic class mobility, the fear of gekokujo held by the ruling class during the political turbulence of the Sengoku Period appears to have contributed to the legislative restrictions implemented provincially by the independent daimyo in the 15th and 16th centuries. In utilizing a diversity of sources the thesis takes an expansive approach in an attempt to create a holistic blueprint of gekokujo’s social impact across a four hundred year period