Five Hundred Arhats No.99 · The Venerable of the Eternal Dharma Treasury | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.99 The Venerable of the Eternal Dharma Treasury

'Dharma treasury' holds and preserves all the Dharma, echoing the Dharmākara bhikṣu of the sūtras who made boundless compassionate vows, and 'eternal' means to the end of all future time; the name marks one who sustains the Dharma through eternal aeons with endless vows. The venerable has a deep bearing and a resolute expression, expressing the Mahāyāna commitment that aeons may end but the power of vow is infinite, amassing a Dharma treasury to liberate beings.

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