Five Hundred Arhats No.388 · The Venerable Sātā the Fierce (Chinese rendering) | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.388 The Venerable Sātā the Fierce (Chinese rendering)

This is a Chinese rendering of an Indic saintly name (the first element is transliterated and 'fierce' may denote the wrathful aspect that subdues demons); the exact original is uncertain, so it is kept objectively without forcing an etymology or inventing a biography. Listed among the five hundred arhats, it signifies subduing affliction through a wrathful aspect, kindness and fierceness non-dual. The venerable bears an Indian look with a stern air, the painting showing only his fierce subduing aspect; the original should be checked against canon and artwork.

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