Five Hundred Arhats No.95 · The Venerable Kapphiṇa the Guardian | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.95 The Venerable Kapphiṇa the Guardian

'Kapphiṇa' is a transliterated Indic name, while 'guardian' means to shelter and preserve the roots of good so they are not lost; the name marks one who well protects his own and others' wholesome roots, storing the roots of virtue to emerge when conditions ripen. The venerable holds his hands as if guarding something with an inward expression, possessing the steady humility of one who protects the ground of mind, practices in hidden and loses no wholesome root.

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