We shall conclude this chapter by describing various phases of the society and the life of the people of this period, beginning with the upper classes. Nothing was deemed of greater importance, politically and socially, than to preserve distinctions of birth. Throughout the Edo period the lines of demarcation were clearly and sharply maintained between the _samurai_, farmers, artisans, and merchants, the four classes ranking in the order here given. Kyōto was the place of residence of the imperial princes, among whom Fushimi, Arisugawa, Katsura, and Kan-in were most closely connected with the imperial house. The civil nobles aggregated over 130 families, including the five called _Sekka_ from which the prime ministers were appointed and empresses chosen, and the seven _Seika_ from which the ministers of the right and left were selected. The real administration of all the civil and military affairs of the state rested, however, under the authority of the sovereign, on the shōgun, who controlled the feudal barons numbering over 360. At the outset large tracts of territory were given to the direct descendants of Iyeyasu, on whose support the shōgun chiefly relied, but subsequently special treatment was extended to the feudal barons of Owari, Kii, and Mito, who under the name _Sanke_--Three Families--were authorized to act in the capacity of advisers to the shōgun with reference to the principal political affairs of the realm, and they were invested with the right to succeed to the shōgunate in the event of a failure in the direct line of male descent. Besides these, the two shōguns Yoshimune and Iyeshige founded three new families at the head of which they placed their own sons, namely, the houses of Tayasu, Hitotsubashi, and Shimizu, collectively known as the _Sankyō_--Three Barons--enjoying the same special privileges and distinctions as the _Sanke_. Many other feudal chiefs were also the recipients of exceptional, though smaller, favor at the hands of the shōgun.