There was a clear-cut distinction between people called tenjobito (high-ranking courtiers who were allowed to enter the Imperial Palace) or Unkaku (same meaning as tenjobito) and Jigenin (court officials who were not Tenjobito) whose shoden was not permitted, which was a basic standard of social status in a court noble society.
殿上人・雲客と呼び、昇殿を許されない地下人との間に明確な区別があり、公家社会における身分基準の基本とされた。