However, Chikuun kept his passion for knowledge, and so, in 1857, he went to Kyoto and entered Takakura Gakuryo (the seminary of Higashi Hongan-ji Temple of Jodo Shinshu, today's Otani University), where he studied Chinese poetry and Chinese classics.
しかし、向学心の衰えない竹雲は安政4年（1857年）、京都へおもむき浄土真宗の高倉学寮に入学して漢詩や漢文学を勉強した。