Five Hundred Arhats No.298 · The Venerable Śivala (Chinese rendering) | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.298 The Venerable Śivala (Chinese rendering)

This is a Chinese rendering of an Indic saintly name whose exact Sanskrit original is uncertain (close in form to Śivala); it is kept objectively without forcing an etymology or inventing a biography. Listed among the five hundred arhats, it signifies giving according to beings and caring for them. The venerable appears as an Indian monk with a kindly look, the painting showing only his generosity to the many and kind reception of others; 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