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Content Created: 2007-03-23 File last modified: Go to Arhat Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 |
It is said that a certain Qìngyǒu 庆友 was knowledgeable in the truths which the Buddha taught, and therefore feared nothing in this world, for he understood the nature of everything.
In a certain place a wicked dragon (èlóng 恶龙) was troubling people. Qìngyóu fearlessly confronted the beast and, after a great battle, tamed it. Indeed, the dragon conceded that it was powerless before a person who had mastered the powers taught by the Buddha.
This is why he is called “The Arhat Who Mastered a Dragon,” and it is why in art Qìngyóu is shown with a dragon, sometimes riding it, although in the painting here we apparently see them negotiating an earlier phase of their relationship.
Qìngyóu is one of two arhats added by the Qiánlóng 乾隆 Emperor (reign 21a-4) to the roster of 16 widely worshipped in previous centuries.
Other figures are often included as the 17th arhat. One is Ēzīdá 阿资荅, who may or may not be the same as arhat #13 or #15. Ēzīdá is represented as an old man sitting on a rock holding a bamboo walking staff, as shown at left. But so are a lot of people.