Five Hundred Arhats No.197 · The Venerable Pure Moon | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.197 The Venerable Pure Moon

'Pure moon' means pure as the moon, bright and spotless, its cool light shining everywhere, signifying a pure, equal heart; the name marks one whose heart is clean as the moon, cool and unstained. The venerable looks fresh and clear with bright features, possessing the spotlessness of a pure moon, cool radiance reaching everywhere, free of stain, illumining self and others with a clean-moon heart.

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