It was a turning point in 'the early period of the dynastic polity,' when the local administration did not function anymore in the traditional framework of the Ritsuryo system (a system of centralized government based upon the ritsuryo code).
当時は旧来の律令制の枠組みのままでは地方行政が成り立たなくなっていた「前期王朝国家」への転換点に当たる時期であった。