In the Nara period they were used at the ceremonies such as Choga (New Year greetings or well-wishes offered by retainers to the Emperor), enthronement, changing the name of an era, investiture of the Empress, investiture of the Crown Prince, and after the Heian period, only used for imperial instructions such as appointment of ministers, conferral of posthumous ranks, shrines and the Imperial mausoleum, and so on.
奈良時代は朝賀・即位・改元・立后・立太子などの儀式に用いられ、平安時代以降は任大臣・贈位・神社・天皇陵などの告文にだけ用いられた。