Five Hundred Arhats No.279 · The Venerable King of Eloquence | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.279 The Venerable King of Eloquence

'King of eloquence' is the fourfold unhindered eloquence, skilled in distinguishing and expounding the meaning of all dharmas, unobstructed in speech and foremost therein; the name marks one foremost in eloquence, skilled in teaching the essential Dharma. The venerable makes a teaching gesture with a bright, fluent look, possessing the four unhindered knowledges, quick and eloquent, a king of speech, expounding the true Dharma through unhindered eloquence.

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