At the same time, monks who made ink-wash paintings emerged; they were mainly from the Zen sect, and while still maintaining their relationship with Buddhism, they freely depicted their own inner world using their own style of artistic interpretation.
これに対して禅宗を中心として仏教との関連性を保ちながらも自由な発想と解釈のもとで自己の内面世界を水墨画などに描き出す僧侶が現れた。