Five Hundred Arhats No.336 · The Venerable Holding the Jeweled Torch | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.336 The Venerable Holding the Jeweled Torch

'Holding the jeweled torch' means holding the precious torch of wisdom in hand, breaking the dark of folly with the torch of true Dharma, a great bright torch for beings in the long night; the name marks one who holds the precious torch, lighting the lost way. The venerable makes a torch-holding gesture with a bright-eyed look, possessing the radiance of holding wisdom's torch, breaking the long night, guiding the lost, lighting beings' way with the bright torch of true Dharma.

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