It is often practised by artists working for the royal court or in independent workshops. Bird-and-flower paintings were often in this style. Ink and wash painting, in Chinese Shui-mo or (水墨[12]) also loosely termed watercolour or brush painting, and also known as "literati painting", as it was one of the "Four Arts" of the Chinese Scholar-official class.[13] In theory this was an art practised by gentlemen, a distinction that begins to be made in writings on art from the Song dynasty, though in fact the careers of leading exponents could benefit considerably.[14] This style is also referred to as "xie yi" (寫意) or freehand style.