Five Hundred Arhats No.288 · The Venerable King Who Relies on Wisdom | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.288 The Venerable King Who Relies on Wisdom

'King who relies on wisdom' means taking wisdom as the ultimate refuge, sovereign and free within wisdom like a king, wisdom the ground of every wholesome dharma and the master of liberation; the name marks one who takes wisdom as lord, foremost within it. The venerable looks clear and free, possessing the insight of relying on wisdom, free within it, peerless as a king, liberating beings with wisdom as guide.

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