fuhekishun 斧劈皴

Lit. axe-cut stroke. A painting texture stroke, *shunpō 皴法, said to have been first used by Li Tang (Jp; Ri Tō 李唐) and later popular with the Zen School in China. It was employed in both China and Japan to represent the fissured surfaces of crystalline rocks and mountains. The effect was produced by pulling the side of the brush across the surface of the paper at an oblique angle. There are two kinds: large axe-cut strokes, dai fuhekishun 大斧劈皴; and small axe-cut strokes, shō fuhekishun 小斧劈皴. So called because it is said to resemble the cracks in a rock that might be made with an axe.