Originally, Shitokan (four classifications of bureaucrat ranks) (administration officer) and hogi (gikan) were appointed with strict distinctions from one another and, up until the latter half of the 7th century, a scholar monk appointed to the post of gikan, such as hakase or onmyoji, would leave the priesthood by imperial decree.
当初は四等官（行政官）と方技（技官）は厳密に区別して任命されていたほか、7世紀後半まで、技官である各博士ないし陰陽師に任命された学僧が就任する際には勅令によって還俗していた。