Five Hundred Arhats No.109 · The Venerable Fragrant Elephant | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.109 The Venerable Fragrant Elephant

The fragrant elephant is the mightiest of elephants and, crossing a river, cuts straight to the bottom, likening a keen capacity that takes the deep Dharma upon itself at once; the name marks one who bears the Dharma with an elephant's strength and cuts across the currents. The venerable has a steady, heroic bearing and a sure expression, possessing great capacity, great responsibility and the vigor that goes straight for the supreme way without bending.

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