Five Hundred Arhats No.316 · The Venerable Awakened Through Pure Virtue | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.316 The Venerable Awakened Through Pure Virtue

'Awakened through pure virtue' means awakening through the purity of precept-virtue: when virtue is pure the heart is pure, and a pure heart gives rise to awakening, pure merit the condition for insight; the name marks one made pure by virtue and awakened through purity. The venerable looks limpid and clear, possessing the clarity of pure virtue yielding a pure heart, awakening through purity, precept, stillness and wisdom together, kindling insight through the root of pure virtue.

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