Five Hundred Arhats No.297 · The Venerable Supreme in the Meaning of Dharma | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.297 The Venerable Supreme in the Meaning of Dharma

'Supreme in the meaning of Dharma' means one who fully penetrates the supreme truth of all dharmas, whose teaching of meaning is most excellent, beyond the world; the name marks one whose grasp of meaning is deep, whose Dharma-meaning is supreme. The venerable makes an expounding gesture with a profound look, possessing the depth of penetrating the supreme meaning, excellent Dharma-meaning, unobstructed understanding, rousing every capacity through deep, wondrous meaning.

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