Under the social conventions of the time, there was the prevalent idea that land or an article should be returned to the original owner concurrent with a change in the reign of the Emperor or the rule of the shogun; this idea was called tokusei (benevolent rule).
当時の社会通念からして、天皇や将軍の代替わりには土地・物品が元の所有者へ返るべきとする思想が広く浸透しており、これを徳政と呼んでいた。