Five Hundred Arhats No.498 · The Venerable Zhuchajia | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.498 The Venerable Zhuchajia

The title is largely a Chinese rendering of an ancient Indic saintly name, listed among the five hundred arhats. With no settled Sanskrit equivalent (possibly near the Cūḍa family), it is kept objectively as a transliteration, without forcing a spelling or inventing deeds. The venerable appears as an Indian monk with a still, quiet look, conveying only his pure holy life and silent meditation.

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