However, it is interesting that, while in China the priesthood was persecuted for opposing Confucian ethics by destroying the order of the 'family', in Japan it was incorporated into the bureaucracy through the 'soni-ryo' and the Sogo (Office of Monastic Affairs) and official certification system under the concept of 'nation protection' (priests with ranks such as 'Sojo' or 'Sozu' were government officials, or 'sokan', literally 'priest officials', under the Ritsuryo system).
だが、中国では、仏教の出家が「家」の秩序を破壊するなど、儒教論理に合わないとされ迫害されたのに対し、日本では「鎮護国家」の発想の下、「僧尼令」や僧綱・度牒制度が導入されて官僚組織の一員とまで化したのは興味深いことだと言える（僧正・僧都などは律令制で定められた僧官）。