From the Kamakura period to the Muromachi period, among the Zen monks at the gosan (Zen temples highly ranked by the government) literature prospered, and suiboku-ga (a drawing in India ink) and sansui-ga (a landscape painting in Eastern Asia) were introduced from the Southern Song Dynasty, and including court nobles, they made a waka poetry club.
鎌倉時代から室町時代にかけて五山を中心に禅僧たちの間に文学が隆盛し、また南宋から水墨画・山水画が伝来し、公家をも含めた詩会のためのサークルをつくっていた。