Due to the tightening of regulations on Buddhism after the Dokyo Incident occurred at the end of the Nara period and the financial trouble of the Imperial Court, temple construction had slowed down and most of Zojishi were abolished by the early Heian period; since then, temples and their revenue resources were supervised by betto (head priest) and sango.
だが、奈良時代末期の道鏡事件をきっかけとした仏教に対する規制強化や朝廷の財政難などによって造寺事業は縮小され、遅くても平安時代初期には殆どの造寺司は廃止され、財源や寺院の監督は別当や三綱に移ることになった。