With the return of government to the capital, the popularizing trends of the Kamakura period came to an end, and cultural expression took on a more aristocratic, elitist character. Zen Buddhism, the Ch'an sect traditionally thought to have been founded in China in the 6th century AD, was introduced for a second time into Japan and took root. Painting Because of secular ventures and trading missions to China organized by Zen temples, many Chinese paintings and objects of art were imported into Japan and profoundly influenced Japanese artists working for Zen temples and the shogunate. This type of painting was executed with quick brush strokes and a minimum of detail. In the foreground a man is depicted on the bank of a stream holding a small gourd and looking at a large slithery catfish.
Mist fills the middle ground, and the background mountains appear to be far in the distance.
The foremost artists of the Muromachi period are the priest-painters Shubun and Sesshu. Sesshu, unlike most artists of the period, was able to journey to China and study Chinese painting at its source. Architecture Another major development of the period was the tea ceremony and the house in which it was held. The purpose of the ceremony is to spend time with friends who enjoy the arts, to cleanse the mind of the concerns of daily life, and to receive a bowl of tea served in a gracious and tasteful manner. The rustic style of the rural cottage was adopted for the tea house, emphasizing such natural materials as bark-covered logs and woven straw.