Arhat， a Song Dynasty（960.1279） hanging scroll by Liu Songnian， ink and color on silk，117cm× 56cm， in the collection of the Palace Museum， Taipei.
Liu Songnian， a Southern Song Dynasty painter， was a disciple of Zhang Dunli. He is good at drawing characters， landscapes and pavilions. Xia Gui， Ma Yuan， Li Tang and Liu Songnian were acclaimed as “Four Great Painters in the Southern Song Dynasty.” His extant works include Arhat， Drunken Monk， Sewing Frock， Four Marshals in Resurgence Period and Enjoying Antiques in Pine Forest.
This work， also known as Tributes from Barbarian Kings， is one piece of the Sixteen Arhats Album. In the painting are an arhat and a Buddhist novice in the forest and two apes playing at trees. All of them are depicted lively and vividly.