Techniques in the Sung had made progress over those of the Tang, and after they had gradually been able to catch reality, the level of connoiseurship advanced to touch the area above appearance. Apart from sheer indulgence in the pleasure of painting, art also came to be moulded by a love of searching out the inner essence of things.
北宋承襲五代遺緒，「繪畫技法仍然是寫實第一」，佘城說，宋人描繪技巧的能力比唐人進步，對寫實漸能掌握之後，品評層次更進而觸及形而上的境地。