On the other hand, according to "Gukan-sho," which was written early in the Kamakura period by Jien, who was Michinaga's sixth descendent, Michinaga found a letter in the Emperor's mementos saying that 'one person tried to have all the power to himself, therefore the world is covered by clouds and people are unhappy'; Michinaga burned this letter, since he took it as saying, 'Because of Michinaga's own way of ruling the government, the world is not in peace.'
その一方で、鎌倉時代初期に書かれた道長の6代目の子孫にあたる慈円の著した『愚管抄』によれば、天皇の死後道長は天皇の遺品の中に一通の手紙を発見し、その中には「三光明ならんと欲し、重雲を覆ひて大精暗し」と書かれていて、これを「道長の専横によって国は乱れている」という意味に解した道長はその文を焼き捨てたという一件がある。