Five Hundred Arhats No.165 · The Venerable Helper of Joy | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.165 The Venerable Helper of Joy

'Helper of joy' means to foster beings' gladness, leading them from sorrow to happiness through kind words and helpful deeds; the name marks one skilled in sympathetic joy who helps others taste Dharma-delight. The venerable wears a pleased, warm expression, possessing the geniality of rejoicing and praising, sharing others' joy and helping awaken their wholesome roots through conditions of gladness.

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