Five Hundred Arhats No.258 · The Venerable Ajita | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.258 The Venerable Ajita

Ajita (literally 'unconquered') is the Sanskrit name of the bodhisattva Maitreya, signifying the loving one none can defeat; listed among the five hundred arhats, the name is taken as title to signify vast loving-kindness none can surpass. The venerable looks kindly with a bodhisattva air; the title is kept objectively without jātaka legend, conveying only equal loving-kindness that none can overcome.

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