Originally, similar books were edited and possessed by the Imperial Palace or each clan of court nobles to consult for political operations and ceremonies of the Imperial Court such as appointment ceremonies, and it is believed that the Yamashina family's detailed version was generally used and books in other families had been no longer in use in the course of borrowing and lending, or collating of those books of each clan.
元々は禁裏や公家の諸家に除目などの公事の参考とするために同様の本が編纂・所蔵されており、それぞれの家にあった本が互いに貸借・校合されていく過程で詳細な山科家のそれが通行して他家の本が行われなくなったと考えられている。