Five Hundred Arhats No.403 · The Venerable Adamantine Light | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.403 The Venerable Adamantine Light

'Adamantine light' means wisdom-light like a diamond, firm, sharp and indestructible, able to break every dark veil of ignorance without being broken, the illumination of diamond-wisdom; the name marks one whose diamond-wisdom is bright, firm and sharp enough to break. The venerable looks firm and bright with a keen bearing, possessing the sharpness of diamond-light, firm and indestructible, breaking darkness without remainder, shattering veils with diamond-wisdom.

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