Five Hundred Arhats No.352 · The Venerable Cultivating Without Owning Virtue | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.352 The Venerable Cultivating Without Owning Virtue

'Cultivating without owning virtue' means doing every good without clinging to the virtue of being the doer, claiming no merit, understanding the three spheres as empty, cultivating without the mark of cultivating; the name marks one who practices virtue without attachment, humble and without pride. The venerable makes a humble gesture with a mild look, possessing the gentleness of practicing without attachment, claiming no merit, the three spheres empty, humble and unpretentious while cultivating every good together.

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