Five Hundred Arhats No.281 · The Venerable Voice of the Dragon Seed | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.281 The Venerable Voice of the Dragon Seed

'Voice of the dragon seed' means the Dharma-voice flows forth with the supreme wisdom of the dragon lineage; the dragon, chief of water creatures, symbolizes noble lineage and sharp supreme faculty, doing the Buddha's work through sound, entering through the dragon-seed's supreme root; the name marks one whose Dharma-voice spreads far with noble faculties. The venerable looks lofty and keen, possessing the brilliance of flowing Dharma-voice, the dragon-seed's supreme wisdom, doing buddha-work through sound, with quick, sharp faculties.

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