Five Hundred Arhats No.126 · The Venerable at Rest | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.126 The Venerable at Rest

'At rest' is the truth that when the frantic mind suddenly stops, that stopping is bodhi—ceasing the outward chase and letting affliction rest; the name marks one who has stilled the deluded mind and found great peace. The venerable relaxes brow and shoulders with an idle ease, possessing the freedom of letting go of grasping, stopping the frantic mind, and resting peacefully where there is nothing to obtain.

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