Five Hundred Arhats No.342 · The Venerable Vow of Praise | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.342 The Venerable Vow of Praise

'Vow of praise' means raising great vows through praising the Tathāgata's virtue, faith arising from praise and vows from faith, vow and practice sustaining each other; the name marks one skilled in praise, guiding action through vow. The venerable makes a praising or joined-palm gesture with a glad look, possessing the joy of lauding virtue, raising vows through praise, vow and practice sustaining each other, nurturing good roots through pure praise.

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