Stones and bamboo originally appeared as background objects in other types of paintings but gradually evolved into a separate genre.The 10th century Southern Tang ruler Li Hou£­chu developed a trembling brush technique in calligraphy that was also particularly suitable for painting bamboo and rocks.Tang Hsi£­ya£¬an artist of the same time£¬adapted it for that purpose.In the following Sung Dynasty£¬the painting of bamboo became more and more popular and many famous scholars such as Wen T'ung and Su Shih were also well known for their paintings of bamboo.