According to the foreword to the third poem, when Gyohen was young, he studied the art of composing tanka poetry under Saigyo who was leading an ascetic life at Kumano following the custom of shaso or onshi of Kumano Shingu.
3.の詞書によると、行遍は若年の頃、熊野新宮の社僧・御師としてその家業に従いつつ、熊野で修行する西行から歌道を学んでいる。