His grades were extremely good and his poetic talent was soon recognized, but he was forced to quit school due to health issues.

In 1794, at the age of 18, his mother and older brother died, and the following year he became the heir of the Tanomura family and was received by the daimyo of the domain in audience.

He decided to quit his medical practice and concentrate on academics, and by order of the shogunate, he was involved in the compilation of an official history of Bungo Province.

In 1805, he traveled to Kyoto for about two years, stopping at Hakata, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Kokura, and Shimonoseki on the way, in order to treat eye diseases and study Confucianism.

He traveled back and forth between Bungo and the Kansai region, and interacted with literary figures, including Rai San'yō, Okada Hankō, Uragami Shunkin, Kan Chazan, and Aoki Mokubei.

He also wrote works on the Nanga school, of which the Sanchūjin jōzetsu (The Recluse's Tattle), a history and theory of Japanese literati paintings, is the best known.

[4] The birthplace of Tanomura Chikuden is located on a small hill in the southern part of the city of Taketa, Ōita, in the foothills of Mount Aso.