Five Hundred Arhats No.25 · The Venerable Dharmapāla | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.25 The Venerable Dharmapāla

Dharmapāla ('Protector of the Dharma') was a great master of Indian Yogācāra (Vijñānavāda) and a renowned scholar of Nālandā Monastery, who expounded doctrine with precision and upheld the true Dharma. The venerable's brow holds discernment and his look is clear and resolute, with the scholarly air of one who composes śāstras and sustains the sacred teaching.

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