Korechika inherited his literature talent from his mother Takako, who was famous for her talent, and with his greatest talent of Sinology in the court of Emperor Ichijo having been officially approved as Shokubun no keisho (court nobles and state ministers who write the Chinese literature), he gave lectures on Kanseki (Chinese books) in the presence of the Emperor Ichijo from an early period.
才名高かった母貴子から文人の血を享けた伊周は属文の卿相として、漢学に関しては一条朝随一の才能を公認され、早くから一条天皇に漢籍を進講した。