After the ruling power of the Muromachi bakufu declined, the official authority which supported the notion of Tenka also declined, and the society of gekokujo (an inverted social order when the lowly reigned over the elite) based on the principle of self-help appeared.
室町幕府の支配が衰えると、このような天下概念を支える公権力が衰え、自力救済を原則とする下克上の社会に移行した。