Although the monks of Todai-ji Temple had been working at Kensaku-do, those who learned the Buddhist laws directly from Jianzhen started their activities also at this Kaidan-in, at the end of the Nara period, when the necessary facilities were completed in the precincts.
これまで、東大寺の僧といえば羂索堂衆だったところに、寺内の整備が完了する奈良時代の終りのころから、この戒壇院でも、鑑真の法脈を伝える僧が活動をはじめることとなった。