Five Hundred Arhats No.211 · The Venerable Vasiṣṭha | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.211 The Venerable Vasiṣṭha

Vasiṣṭha (also rendered Vasiṣṭha) is one of the ancient Vedic seers of India and appears also in Buddhist texts; listed among the five hundred arhats, the name signifies lofty holy conduct and a sage's renunciation. The venerable has the air of a Brahmin seer with an archaic, noble look, recorded objectively without inventing specific deeds, conveying only pure holy conduct and the bearing of deep 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