Five Hundred Arhats No.121 · The Venerable Aśvajit | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.121 The Venerable Aśvajit

Aśvajit, rendered in Chinese as 'horse-victor,' was one of the first five bhikṣus the Buddha converted; his deportment was serene and measured, and it was upon seeing his bearing and hearing his verse 'all dharmas arise from conditions' that Śāriputra awakened. The venerable moves with ordered conduct and a calm expression, possessing the saintly manner that draws people through sheer deportment and propagates the Dharma by one's very person.

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