Through the social interactions between monks, especially Zen monks, and literati, monks who made bokugi appeared (a well known example of an artist monk who was not of the Zen sect was Jakufun Gyokukan of the Tendaishu sect).
文人と僧侶の交流を通じて、墨戯を行う僧侶が現れるようになり特に禅僧にその傾向が強かった（天台宗の若芬玉澗のように非禅僧の画僧も存在する）。