On Jun. 13, 2020, Zheng Xilin, the first person of the Lijin-Traditional Chinese Painting, donated a Lijin- traditional Chinese painting scroll of the Enlightenment Scene of Buddha to Shaolin Temple. Shaolin Temple’s abbot Yongxin attended the ceremony, represented Shaolin Temple to receive the donation and has made it be a permanent collection at the Shaolin Sutra-keeping Pavilion of Shaolin Temple. President Zhao Chunfeng, a famous Chinese physician, and others were present in the donation ceremony.

Zheng Xilin, born in Beijing, studied in the Central Academy of Fin Art and learned from Jiang Zhaohe, a famous figure painter. He is the member of the China Artists Association, called the first person of the Lijin-traditional Chinese painting. His works have been collected by the Buddhist Association of China, the Lama Temple, Thai royal family, the United Nations and so on.

The scroll of the Enlightenment Scene of Buddha is a fine piece of work that Professor Zheng Xilin spent about three years painting, set in the theme of a grand Buddhist history. The painting is 1000cm long and 65cm wide, including 499 figures. It vividly depicts the overall process from Sakyamuni’s birth to death with thangkas and mineral dye. The work is vigorous and firm and magnificent. Levels of size, time-consuming, working procedure, characters intro and technique of expression, are amazing.

In the donation ceremony, abbot Yongxin highly praised of Mr. Zheng Xilin having a deep tie with Buddhism. Shaolin Temple has the tradition to respect history and hold belief. As the central temple of Chan sect, Shaolin Temple expresses thanks for Mr. Zheng Xilin’s creation and donation of the Enlightenment Scene of Buddha. (Edited by Yue Long and photographed by Wang Haitao)