Prior to this time, it had been customary for the military men to neglect the study of reading and writing. Such occupations were abandoned to the priests, and it resulted that, even after the conclusion of the wars, men having a predilection for literature generally drifted into the ranks of the priests. Such persons, however, were not required to adopt the tonsure or to give up their position as _samurai_. The learned family of Hayashi were a case in point. The succeeding shōguns paid them high respect, and a school founded by them, at first in the character of a private establishment, but afterward taken under government protection, grew into an institution of much importance under the name of the _Shōhei-kō_. The example of Edo was widely followed in various provinces of Japan, and numerous institutions of learning sprang up in all the fiefs, from which the most distinguished pupils were selected and sent to the central school, _Shōhei-kō_, for purposes of further study. So far was the study of Chinese literature carried by the Japanese of the time that some of their publications in that line elicited admiration of the Chinese themselves. The Edo epoch may thus be described as the golden era of Chinese literature in Japan, although unfortunately this record is somewhat marred by the acrimonious disputes that sprang up among the different schools of philosophy, each considering itself orthodox and denouncing the teachings of others as spurious. The study of the Chinese classics also called forth the revival of Japanese history and _belles lettres_. Fiction, dramatic pieces called _kikyoku_, and the popular, pithy verses known as _haikai_, flourished greatly, particularly during the Genroku era (1688-1703). Education among the masses also at last made its appearance, for in almost every temple there existed a private school, called _tera-koya_, in which the children of farmers, merchants, and artisans were taught rudimentary lessons in reading, writing, and arithmetic.