Five Hundred Arhats No.189 · The Venerable Jewel-Staff | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.189 The Venerable Jewel-Staff

'Jewel-staff' takes pure discipline, concentration and wisdom as a precious staff that supports one on the path, like a mendicant's staff rousing the deluded and upholding the Dharma; the name marks one who walks steadily with the Dharma as his staff. The venerable stands holding a staff with a steady look, possessing the security of taking the Dharma as a staff, supported by the true teaching, walking the bodhisattva path without stumbling.

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