In the Nara period, the biography of the FUJIWARA three generations began with FUJIWARA no Kamatari, "Kaden" (Family history) and "Shotokutaishi Denryaku" (Biography of Shotokutaishi) were written, and in the Heian period MIYAKO no Yoshika (the compiler of an authentic history "Nihon Montoku Tenno Jitsuroku" [Fifth of the six official national history books]) wrote "Dojo Hoshi Den" (Biography of Dojohoshi), Kiyoyuki MIYOSHI wrote "FUJIWARA no Yasunori den" (Biography of FUJIWARA no Yasunori) and "Enchin Osho Den" (Biography of Enchin), and KI no Haseo wrote "Tsunesada Shinno Den" (Biography of Imperial Prince Tsunesada).
奈良時代に藤原鎌足以下3代の伝記を記した『家伝』や『聖徳太子伝暦』が著され、平安時代に入ると、都良香（正史『日本文徳天皇実録』の編者）の『道場法師伝』、三善清行の『藤原保則伝』・『円珍和尚伝』、紀長谷雄の『恒貞親王伝』などが著された。