The problem of embezzling of jisharyo (holdings of temples and shrines) by kokuga (imperial household officials or an estate manager) or bushi (samurai) was the background of the tendo -- But in some cases, as Buddhist monks and Shinto priests inherited the shoryo, which was necessary for maintenance of the facilities and support of the rituals, accompanying their religious belief (Buddhist monks inherited the shoryo from the master to the disciple, correspondingly to the case of the Shinto priests where they inherited the shoryo from father to children), they began to privatize the shoryo such that they could use the shoryo for private purposes, which had nothing to do with their religious activities, or that they sold the shoryo to the other person at their own discretion in the worst cases.
その背景として国衙や武士による寺社領の横領という問題もあったが、僧侶や神官によって信仰に付随して施設や儀式の維持とそのために必要な所領が相続継承されていく（僧侶の場合は師弟間の継承が神官の子弟間の相続に相当する）うちに私有化され、宗教とは関係のない私的目的に利用されたり、場合によっては勝手に他者に売却される場合もあった。