湖南衡阳祝圣寺罗汉堂原有五百罗汉雕像，全部用青石镌刻，嵌在左右墙壁上，是南岳文化宝库中的一颗明珠。可惜在十年动乱中，罗汉大部分被毁，现仅存五百罗汉像拓本。此本为清末拓本。
祝圣寺坐落在南岳镇东街，距南岳庙半里许，是南岳六大佛教丛林之一。1983年被国务院确定为汉族地区佛教全国重点寺院。唐代高僧承远（公元712-802）在这里创建佛教寺院，名弥陀台，他的著名弟子法照（？-777），初居庐山，结西方道场。大历二年（767）慕承远名来南岳，师事承远十二年。大历末年（779）奉诏入长安，入皇宫教宫人五会念佛（五百人为一会），唐代宗奉为国师，传教天下。法照向代宗极力称赞其师承远有异德，代宗南向而礼之，度不可征，乃名其居日“般舟道场”，用尊其位。承远另一著名弟子日晤，十三岁出家，随承远长期侍勤，唐肃宗乾元元年（758），诏天下名山置大德七人，长讲戒律，日晤获选首位。他在南岳登坛传戒37年，每年度僧千人，称盛一时。他在旧址上建一精室命名为“般舟台”，专修念佛三昧，世称“般舟和尚”。唐德宗贞元年间（785-805），诏为“弥陀寺”。从而，由弥陀台、般舟道场到弥陀寺，就成了名登朝廷，声动公卿的天下名寺。祝圣寺主体建筑共有五进，分为天王殿、大雄宝殿、说法堂、方丈室、罗汉堂。
东汉时期，随着佛教的传入,佛教题材的绘画应运而生。至唐永徽四年（654年）玄奘译出《大阿罗汉难提菩多罗所说法住记》后，对罗汉之崇拜逐渐“普及”，开始出现雕塑罗汉像，唐代的王维、五代的贯休、宋代的张玄、清代的姚宋等都曾创作了一些宣扬罗汉的艺术作品，但存世极少。
五百罗汉的事迹，诸经说法不一，大致可分为佛在世时的五百罗汉与佛灭后的五百罗汉。佛在世时的五百罗汉是指佛所渡化的比丘群（每每有五百之数）。也可说佛在世时，所渡化的最有成就的五百比丘。另一说，佛在世时曾渡化了五百位盲乞人，他们最后也都成就了阿罗汉果。佛灭后的五百罗汉，据《舍利弗问经》，当指弗沙秘多罗王毁灭佛法后，重兴圣教的五百罗汉。另外，在佛教史上流传着四次的结集大事，每次都由大阿罗汉们担当大任，其中第一次为佛灭度迦叶尊者与五百阿罗汉最初结集三藏，第二次是七百罗汉，第三、第四次也都是五百罗汉。现在一般认为，五百罗汉均为释迦牟尼佛的弟子，佛灭后，他们整理了佛的教义，并广为传播，因而取得了小乘教的最高地位——罗汉的称号。五百罗汉创作题材属于多体罗汉创作题材之一，我国关于五百罗汉的故事，早在东汉随着“佛说兴起行经”开始流传，两晋以来，“佛五百弟子自说本起经”、“增一阿含经”等有关经典的相继译出，五百罗汉的事迹随着这些佛教经典而广为流传，但是影响美术创作却相当晚。
盛唐的敦煌莫高窟的壁画中，有许多“涅槃变相”的题材，画中有无数悲戚的佛弟子们可以说是我国早期的罗汉形象。而龙门石窟中却刻出了二十五体和二十九体的罗汉。中唐的寺壁中也多有传法弟子或六十罗汉等题材。可以说这些多体罗汉，开了后来五百罗汉创作的先河。
五代时期，兴起了十六罗汉创作的风气，同时开始了五百罗汉的创作，现存最早的五百罗汉形象就是五代时期的石窟造像，造像风格上有形式化的倾向。两宋时，五百罗汉创作进入辉煌期，无论绘画还是雕塑，五百罗汉创作均力求捕捉罗汉内心之感情与神韵，且融合禅意与文趣，风貌独特，生动感人。明清以降，五百罗汉流于摹擬和因袭，少有创意，但在艺坛上仍占有一席之地。
中国佛教的五百罗汉，虽名号不同，神态各异，但却有一个共同点：罗汉们被视为力量和吉祥的象征，几乎家喻户晓，有口皆碑。我国的许多寺庙也不惜工本精心塑造五百罗汉像，如北京碧云寺、成都宝光寺、武汉归元寺、苏州西园寺和寒山寺、上海龙华寺、广州华林寺、昆明筇竹寺及重庆吉星寺等。五百罗汉造像形式有泥塑、铜铸、雕刻、绘制、纸褙等。江苏常州天宁寺碑刻是依据宋代杭州净慈寺的五百罗汉塑像绘画摹勒上石刻成的，其像神形兼备、惟妙惟肖、栩栩如生，惜在清咸丰年间毁于兵燹，仅有拓片流传民间。清光绪年间，南岳祝圣寺高僧释心月，据天宁寺传世碑刻拓片摹刻于石，而此碑也于“文革”中毁弃。
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The Luohan Hall of Zhusheng Temple in Hengyang, Hunan Province, is a pearl in Nanyue Culture Treasury, which is carved with blue stone and embedded on the left and right walls. Unfortunately, during the ten years of turmoil, most of the Arhats were destroyed. There are only 500 rubbings of Arhats left. This is the rubbings of the late Qing Dynasty.
Zhusheng Temple is located in the East Street of Nanyue Town, half a mile away from Nanyue Temple. It is one of the six Buddhist jungles in Nanyue. In 1983, it was designated by the State Council as the national key Buddhist temple in the Han nationality area. The Tang Dynasty monk Chengyuan (712-802 A.D.) founded a Buddhist temple here, named Mituotai. His famous disciple Fazhao (? - 777), first residing in Lushan, Jiexi Dao Chang. In the second year of the Great Calendar (767), Mu Chengyuan came to Nanyue, where he had been a teacher for twelve years. At the end of the Great Calendar (779), he was ordered to enter Chang'an, and the five congresses of the Imperial Palace read Buddha (500 for a meeting). The Tang emperor was regarded as a national teacher and preached to the world. Fazhao praised Daizhong's teachers for their different virtues. Daizhong's southward courtesy was not justifiable. It was called "Banzhou Daochang" in Japan and respected its position. Another well-known disciple of Chengyuan met on Sunday. He became a monk at the age of 13 and served with Chengyuan for a long time. In the first year of Emperor Suzong's reign of Emperor Qianyuan (758), seven people were commanded to set up Dade in the world's famous mountains. He talked about the precepts for a long time, and the Sunday Meeting was the first choice. He has been on the altar in Nanyue for 37 years. Every year he celebrates thousands of monks and is praised for their prosperity. He built a seminal chamber on the old site named "Panzhoutai", specializing in Buddhist Samadhi, known as "Panzhoumonk". During the Zhenyuan reign of Tang Dezong (785-805), the imperial edict was "Mituo Temple". Thus, from Mituo Tai and Banzhou Daochang to Mituo Temple, it became a famous temple under heaven, which was famous for ascending the court and moving the public. There are five main buildings in Zhusheng Temple, which are Tianwang Hall, Daxiong Palace, Falun Hall, Abbot's Room and Arhat Hall.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, with the introduction of Buddhism, Buddhist paintings came into being. After Xuan Zang translated "The Great Arhat Can't Title Bodhisattva's Speech and Memory" in the fourth year of Yonghui Tang Dynasty (654), the worship of Arhat gradually "popularized" and sculpture of Arhat began to appear. Wang Wei of the Tang Dynasty, Guanxiu of the Five Dynasties, Zhang Xuan of the Song Dynasty and Yao Song of the Qing Dynasty had created some artistic works of promoting Arhat, but few survived in the world.
