Eighteen Arhats (十八羅漢圖卷)

This painting depicts the eighteen arhats, or luohans, who were enlightened disciples of the Buddha and protectors of Buddhist law. They were ordered by the Buddha to stay in this world to await the Buddha Maitreya, his successor—known as the future Buddha—who will descend to earth once the original Buddhist teachings have been disregarded or largely forgotten. Eccentric and reclusive, arhats signify the meditative, nonmaterial values of Buddhism, and they were a favorite theme in religious paintings from the ninth century onward.