Engen

For other uses, see Engen (disambiguation).

Engen (延元) was a Japanese era of the Southern Court during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts after Kenmu and before Kōkoku, lasting from February 1336 to April 1340.^[1] The reigning Emperors were Emperor Go-Daigo and Emperor Go-Murakami in the south and Emperor Kōmyō in the north.

Nanboku-chō overview

The Imperial seats during the Nanboku-chō period were in relatively close proximity, but geographically distinct. They were conventionally identified as:

• Northern capital : Kyoto
• Southern capital : Yoshino.

During the Meiji period, an Imperial decree dated March 3, 1911 established that the legitimate reigning monarchs of this period were the direct descendants of Emperor Go-Daigo through Emperor Go-Murakami, whose Southern Court (南朝, nanchō) had been established in exile in Yoshino, near Nara.^[2]

Until the end of the Edo period, 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 were not in their possession.^[2]

This illegitimate Northern Court (北朝, hokuchō) had been established in Kyoto by Ashikaga Takauji.^[2]

Northern Court Equivalents

• Kenmu (continued)
• Ryakuō

References

1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Engen" in Japan encyclopedia, p. 178; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File.
2. 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. p. 140-147.

External links

• National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" – historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Ōdai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691

Preceded by Kenmu	Era or nengō Engen 1336–1340	Succeeded by Kōkoku