Gekokujō

Gekokujō (下克上, also 下剋上) is a Japanese word in which someone of a lower position overthrows someone of a higher position using military or political might, seizing power.[1] It is variously translated as "the lower rules the higher" or "the low overcomes the high".[2]

The term originated from Sui dynasty China. In Japan, it came into use from the Kamakura period. It is commonly used to refer to lords overthrowing stronger or higher-positioned lords in history. In modern Japanese it can be used to refer to an underdog winning.

In art
  • The February 26 Incident is prominently portrayed as an example of gekokujō in Yukio Mishima's Modernist short story "Patriotism", and serves as the backdrop for the events of the narrative.[3]

See also

References
  1. 『大辞林』第3版 下克上
  2. Ferejohn, John and Frances Rosenbluth. (2010). War and State Building in Medieval Japan, p. 149.
  3. Mishima, Yukio (1966). Death in Midsummer and Other Stories p. 93–119.

Further reading
  • Sources of Japanese Tradition Volume 2 compiled by William T. de Bary, Carol Gluck and Arthur E. Tiedemann
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