Five Hundred Arhats No.339 · The Venerable Ajita | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.339 The Venerable Ajita

Ajita (literally 'unconquered') is one of the sixteen (eighteen) arhats, an elder who abides in the world to protect the teaching by the Buddha's charge; listed among the five hundred arhats, the name signifies loving-kindness none can surpass and abiding to guard the true Dharma. The venerable has the air of an elder disciple with a kindly look; the title is kept objectively without miraculous legend, conveying only equal loving-kindness none can defeat and abiding to protect the teaching.

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