Five Hundred Arhats No.79 · The Venerable Bhikṣu Siṃha (Lion) | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.79 The Venerable Bhikṣu Siṃha (Lion)

'Siṃha' means lion, a metaphor for fearless proclamation of the Dharma like the lion's roar, and a bhikṣu is an ordained monk; the Venerable Siṃha was famed for his fierce fearlessness in overcoming wrong doctrines. The venerable has a vigorous, upright bearing, expressing the great fearlessness won in the true Dharma, whose single lion's roar subdues all error.

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