Five Hundred Arhats No.470 · The Venerable Wise, Kind and Compassionate | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.470 The Venerable Wise, Kind and Compassionate

'Wise, kind and compassionate' means endowed with the three virtues of wisdom, benevolence and compassion, illumining principle with wisdom, loving all with benevolence, relieving suffering with compassion, wisdom guiding kindness; the name marks one with all three. The venerable looks kindly with a warm air, possessing the warmth of clear wisdom, all-embracing benevolence, compassionate relief of suffering, benefiting beings with wisdom-guided kindness.

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