Five Hundred Arhats No.29 · The Venerable Who Holds the Teachings in Mind | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.29 The Venerable Who Holds the Teachings in Mind

To hold in mind (dhāraṇī) is to hear the Dharma and never forget; dependent origination is the principle of conditionality behind all phenomena. He concentrates as though recollecting, his gaze turned inward, with the steadiness of one who keeps the essential Dharma and contemplates dependent arising.

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