Five Hundred Arhats No.491 · The Venerable Responding to Every Cry | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.491 The Venerable Responding to Every Cry

'Responding to every cry' means seeking the sound of beings calling for rescue, responding at once, saving suffering upon hearing the cry, like echo answering sound, without break; the name marks one who saves upon hearing, responding without fail. The venerable makes a listening gesture with an attentive look, possessing the attentiveness of responding to the cry, saving upon hearing, like echo to sound, answering beings' hearts without break.

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