Five Hundred Arhats No.138 · The Venerable Sage of the Way | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.138 The Venerable Sage of the Way

'Sage of the way' means diligent on the Buddha-way, attaining a sage-like liberated freedom—here 'sage' is not an outsider's immortal but a noble one who has realized sainthood; the name marks one whose practice is transcendent and who gains great freedom. The venerable has an untrammeled, unworldly air, possessing the lightness of one whose heart rests in the great way, beyond worldly things, roaming free within liberation.

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