Five Hundred Arhats No.359 · The Venerable Sahā (Chinese rendering) | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.359 The Venerable Sahā (Chinese rendering)

This is a Chinese rendering of an Indic saintly name possibly close to Sanskrit Sahā (the 'endurance world', this world-system); the exact original is uncertain, so it is kept objectively without forcing an etymology or inventing a biography. Listed among the five hundred arhats, it signifies enduring hardship in the sahā world to liberate beings. The venerable appears as an Indian monk with a patient look, the painting showing only his endurance in the world and conversion of beings; 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