As for why the law was promulgated, it is said to have been issued by Tsunayoshi TOKUGAWA on the recommendation of Ryuko, high Buddhist official favoured by Tsunayoshi's mother Keisho-in, dues to worries he had no successor.
生類憐みの令が出された理由について従来、徳川綱吉が跡継ぎがないことを憂い、母桂昌院が寵愛していた隆光僧正の勧めで出したとされてきた。