Shoen was often placed under the complicated control system due to repeated donations; the honjo (proprietor or guarantor of a private estate) originally referred to the individuals who held the shomuken, and those who were in the position to hold the shomuken could administer various authorities against the local power within shoen, such as shokan (an officer governing shoen) and shomin (people of the manor), by personally going to the shoen himself or by sending a zassho (a person in charge of miscellaneous tasks) there.
荘園は度重なる寄進によって重層的な支配構造となっていたが、実際に直接あるいは雑掌などを派遣して、荘園内の在地勢力（荘官及び荘民）に対して諸権限を行使しえたのは荘務権を持っている職の体系であり、本来本所とは荘務権を持つ職を指した。