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Five Hundred Arhats

Ink and color on silk

Five Hundred Arhats

KOREA; Joseon dynasty

The central figure in this painting is Sakyamuni Buddha, flanked by two attendants and two Heavenly Kings. The central figures are surrounded by mountains, cliffs, trees, and clouds. The Five Hundred Arhats are arranged in groups all over the picture, covering the landscape. Painted with soft brushstrokes, most of the painting has a dark tone, but light seems to emanate from the Buddha. Depictions of the Five Hundred Arhats started to appear during the Tang dynasty (618–907) and continued during the Song dynasty (960–1279). These Chinese works went on to inspire Korean artists.

For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Painting A-H, page 250.

Cite this article:

Hsingyun, et al. "Five Hundred Arhats." Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Painting A-H, vol. 14, 2016, pp. 250.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Youlu, Graham Wilson, Manho, Mankuang, and Susan Huntington. 2016. "Five Hundred Arhats" In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Painting A-H, 14:250.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Youlu, Wilson, G., Manho, Mankuang, & Huntington, S.. (2016). Five Hundred Arhats. In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Painting A-H (Vol. 14, pp. 250).
@misc{Hsingyun2016,
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Youlu and Wilson, Graham and Manho and Mankuang and Huntington, Susan,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Painting A-H},
pages = 250,
title = {{Five Hundred Arhats}},
volume = 14,
year = {2016}}


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