Five Hundred Arhats No.357 · The Venerable Āmra's Fullness | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.357 The Venerable Āmra's Fullness

"Ānluó" is close to Sanskrit āmra, the āmra fruit, the purest of fruits, while "fullness" means complete and endowed; like the āmra fruit he is pure within and without, with blessings and wisdom brought to fullness and every virtue complete. The name, recorded in the Southern Song Arhat-Name Stele, marks one pure and complete, endowed with bliss and wisdom. The venerable bears an Indian look with a fulfilled air, possessing āmra-like purity, full blessings and wisdom, complete virtue, and pure, outflow-free wholeness within and without.

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