Five Hundred Arhats No.328 · The Venerable Surpassing Rain of Dharma | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.328 The Venerable Surpassing Rain of Dharma

'Surpassing rain of Dharma' means the rain of teaching he pours nourishes beyond the ordinary, one rain watering all plants alike, the Dharma-rain abundant and surpassing the common; the name marks one whose Dharma-rain is torrential, nourishing all. The venerable looks up as if receiving rain with a full look, possessing the abundance of all-nourishing Dharma-rain, every plant equally watered, moistening every capacity through the excellent wondrous rain.

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