Five Hundred Arhats No.202 · The Venerable Kunāśa (Chinese rendering) | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.202 The Venerable Kunāśa (Chinese rendering)

This is a Chinese rendering of an Indic saintly name whose exact Sanskrit original is uncertain; it is kept objectively without forcing an etymology or inventing a biography. Listed among the five hundred arhats, it signifies one who manifests according to beings, his repute spreading far. The venerable looks serene with the air of an Indian monk, the painting showing only his calm absorption and pure self-possession; the original name should be checked against the artwork and canon.

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