Xia Jing Shan’s profound knowledge of ancient Chinese Buddhist paintings is evidenced by the abundant amount of his copies and adaptations of paintings of Bodhisattvas, Avalokiteśvara, Arhats, and Zhong kui from the Song through the Qing periods. This article analyzes Xia Jing Shan’s Arhat paintings to discern the origins of his Arhat motifs and his modes of copying, imitating, and transforming ancient painting models. In terms of the artistic characteristics of Xia’s Arhat paintings, their meticulous representation and lavished colors are closer to that of his paintings of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas than his paintings of Avalokiteśvara, Bodhidharma, and Zhong kui, which feature untrammeled brushwork and extraordinary atmosphere. The latter part of the article uses examples of the transmission and adaptation of hand-painted or woodblock-printed Buddhist painting models in China, especially during the Ming and Qing periods, to demonstrate that Xia Jing Shan inherited this painting method from ancient masters.
