Record price for monk's work

Hong Kong - An artwork depicting a journey by 18 monks through a mountain landscape and accompanied by mythical animal consorts by Wu Bin, a 16th century Ming dynasty painter and Zen monk at the Qixia Temple in Nanjing, has brought a record price of $24.8 million at a Beijing sale making this is the highest price ever paid for a Chinese painting at auction. The final price was almost 8 times the pre-sale estimate. 

The scroll, "Eighteen Arhats," is typical of the work of Wu Bin who often painted Buddhist monks and priests performing magical rituals and healing ceremonies. The work was once owned by the emperor of Qianlong whose own calligraphy adorns the piece. 

A "letter leaf" calligraphy by the 11th century Song Dynasty poet, Zeng Gong, gaveled in at $15.9 million. Zeng Gong was considered a founder of the one of the eight great schools of Chinese philosophy.