Collection: Five Hundred Arhats Paintings | Ink on Paper

Li Zongyi's "Five Hundred Arhats" | A Collectible Ink Scroll by the World's Foremost Buddha Painter

"Five Hundred Arhats" is the work of Li Zongyi, founder of the contemporary Leisure Painting School and hailed as "the world's foremost painter of Buddhas." The complete original set is permanently preserved at Daming Temple in Yangzhou and serves as the temple's officially collected model of arhat portraiture. Li Zongyi has set the Great World Guinness long-scroll painting record five times; his Buddha imagery has formed a style of its own, filling the creative gap in modern large-scale arhat portraiture on xuan (rice) paper.

Technical Rarity: An Irreproducible Series of Individual Xuan-Paper Arhats

This is China's first complete series of the Five Hundred Arhats painted as individual xuan-paper works — five hundred venerable ones, each a painting in its own right, no two alike — fundamentally different from the old formats of murals and single collective scrolls. Li Zongyi forgoes heavy, dense colours: concise, agile freehand line drawing forms the skeleton, while light ink washes carry the rhythm. Drapery lines flow smooth and relaxed; a few strokes capture the airy lightness of sleeves lifting in the wind. Faces are softly modelled in pale ink, the gaze clear and still — the Zen realm of "carefree ease" is hidden within the brush and ink. Every arhat is distinct in expression, bearing and ascetic practice, set off by rocks, ancient pines, clouds, water and ritual objects, with ample negative space and a distant, tranquil Zen atmosphere.

Artistic and Collectible Value

The complete originals were consecrated at Daming Temple, following Buddhist ritual canons with verifiable classical references. The deluxe thread-bound xuan-paper edition features inscriptions and carved seals by Liu Fangming, a National First-Class Artist, for every arhat, calligraphy by Master Hsing Yun, and trilingual (Chinese, English, Japanese) Zen annotations. The set works both singly and as a whole: each painting stands alone as a fine artwork, while the full collection forms a grand Buddhist cultural narrative scroll. Works on this subject are exceedingly rare, combining the threefold value of devotional worship, art collecting and cultural transmission — with long-term appreciation potential.

Collection and Gifting

Ideal for enshrinement in a shrine room, Zen tea-room and study settings, and high-end corporate gifting — equally cherished by overseas collectors. Every piece is a hand-painted original; once sold, the series is closed forever.