Five Hundred Arhats No.35 · The Venerable Before Whom the Poison Dragon Takes Refuge | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.35 The Venerable Before Whom the Poison Dragon Takes Refuge

The poison dragon is a metaphor for the poison of anger and the stubborn, hard-to-tame mind; to take refuge is to subdue it and turn from delusion to awakening. The venerable's expression is compassionate yet holds subduing power, embodying the tolerance and virtue that turns the hard into the gentle and brings even a poison dragon to bow and take refuge.

Painted by Li Zongyi in the freehand Chinese ink (xieyi) tradition, the brushwork is fluent and the ink tones layered from dense to pale, capturing the arhat’s spirit in a few assured strokes. The blank paper itself breathes Zen; figure and spirit are one, blending monastic solemnity with the literati’s ease. Each of the Five Hundred Arhats bears its own name and practice, uniting faith, art and collectibility — an original, non-reproducible hand-painted work.

Size: approx. 100×50cm (4.5 square chi) | Traditional hand-painted Chinese ink Zen Buddhist figure painting | On paper