| Arhat is one of the main topics of Buddhism art, and enjoys a great reputation. The frescoes and statues of Arhat have became more and more popular since Wei and Jin dynasties, as common as Buddha and Bodhisattva during that time. In the early time, Arhat played subsidiary role in the large art works of Buddhism, then gradually became independent in the Song and Yuan dynasties, there are more particular scroll paintings of it. This situation made ordinary people to have more chance to own collections of Arhat, and transformed it from a purely idolatry to the personal admiring and aesthetic sustenance.In the long history, Arhat evolved into different trends in form, appearance, and other aspects of the conception, mainly rules-abiding style and humorous style in Chinese paintings. There happened obvious differences between the two styles in the Song and Yuan dynasties, one is keeping traditional rules while the other prefer more free, such situation due to the social-cultural distinction.The reason of choosing the scroll painting of Arhat of Song and Yuan Dynasties is:During this period, Chinese painting declined rapidly, especially the figure painting. Doing research of this topic might have referral value and helpful for today’s practice. My thesis is divided into four chapters, firstly to clear the definition of Arhat and its origins in art. Secondly is the earlier times works of Arhat and certain famous artists. Then explore the scroll paintings of Arhat in the Northern and Southern Song dynasties, analyzes the evolution of artistic styles, took the background, certain conditions in both China and overseas as assistant research. Last part is the study of Yuan dynasty, and some art problems about Dhyana. According to practitioner’s experience, I would try to compare the phenomenon of ancient views and the opinions of nowadays, then strive to remove the empty argument and do more certain practical research.
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