Five Hundred Arhats No.127 · The Venerable Devadatta | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.127 The Venerable Devadatta

Devadatta is the Sanskrit name, also rendered in Chinese as 'god-given,' recorded in Buddhist literature; this figure is numbered among the Five Hundred Arhats and is painted as an Indian monk with a calm expression. Although the name is a transliteration of an ancient Indic name, here it is presented as a noble arhat; the brushwork focuses on his practice toward the way and the subduing of affliction, without inventing any biography.

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