Five Hundred Arhats No.170 · The Venerable King of Flowers | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.170 The Venerable King of Flowers

'King of flowers' is the sovereign among blossoms, likened to the lotus that rises from the mud unstained and is most noble, representing perfect virtue through the supreme flower; the name marks one like the flower-king, pure and transcendent. The venerable looks lofty and radiant, possessing the noble purity of the lotus-king that rises from the mire unstained, adorned with every virtue, alone supreme among blossoms.

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