Literature occupied a very important place in the Zen temples of the Northern Song and Yuan dynasties, and once the Zen style was introduced to Japan by monks who had been to the Song and Yuan, there was a collective rise in literary aspirations.
北宋元(王朝)禅林においても文学が占める位置は非常に大きかったが、入宋僧や入元僧らにより、その禅風が伝来すると、こぞって文学志向が高揚することとなった。