Dosan rose in the world from a monk, through an oil-seller, to a Sengoku daimyo, and along with Soun HOJO, Dosan was considered the epitome of a man's rise to a daimyo by gekokujo (the low oppress the high).
かつて、斎藤道三は北条早雲らと並ぶ下克上大名の典型であり、僧侶から油商人を経てついに戦国大名にまで成り上がった人物だとされてきた。