Five Hundred Arhats No.469 · The Venerable Upright in Conduct | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.469 The Venerable Upright in Conduct

'Upright in conduct' means honest without flattery, acting upright, a heart straight as a shaft practicing the way, not bent by guile; the name marks one honest in the way, a heart without crookedness. The venerable makes an upright gesture with a plain, true look, possessing the integrity of honesty without flattery, upright conduct, an unbent heart, walking the Buddha-way straight with an honest heart.

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