Five Hundred Arhats No.142 · The Venerable Skilful Tamer | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.142 The Venerable Skilful Tamer

'Skilful tamer' means one who tames his own mind and subdues affliction as a fine trainer subdues a wild elephant; the name marks one who skilfully trains body-mind until it is pliant and fit for the way. The venerable makes a taming gesture with an unhurried expression, possessing the patience and skill to train one's capacity, gather in laxity and bring the mind to rest in absorption.

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