Five Hundred Arhats No.455 · The Venerable Markless Emptiness | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.455 The Venerable Markless Emptiness

'Markless emptiness' means seeing all dharmas as markless, markless hence empty, beyond all marks, in marks yet markless, penetrating reality through markless-emptiness wisdom; the name marks one who contemplates markless emptiness, realizing truth beyond marks. The venerable makes a beyond-marks contemplation with a void, clear look, possessing the clarity of seeing dharmas markless, beyond all marks, markless-emptiness wisdom, penetrating reality with a mark-free 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