Hotei- Japanese GodDeity"Laughing Buddha"
Also known as: 布袋 and ほてい
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Description
A wandering monk with an enormous belly and a laugh that never stopped, who gave away everything in his cloth sack yet never ran empty. Chinese tradition recognized him as Maitreya, the future Buddha, disguised as a fool. Japan made him one of the Seven Lucky Gods.
Mythology & Lore
The Wandering Monk
The Chinese Chan monk Budai lived during the Later Liang dynasty (907–923 CE). He avoided formal temple residence and wandered from town to town carrying an enormous cloth sack, from which his name derives. He begged for food and gave it away to children. He slept outdoors regardless of weather.
When asked about the meaning of Zen, he set down his sack. When asked what came next, he picked it up and walked away.
Before his death, he declared himself an incarnation of Maitreya, the bodhisattva destined to become the next Buddha. Chinese Buddhist tradition accepted the claim, and his image gradually replaced more formal Maitreya iconography in temples across China. The Jingde Chuandenglu records his sayings and the circumstances of his life.
Among the Seven
Budai crossed into Japan as Hotei and joined the Seven Lucky Gods during the Muromachi period, when the Shichifukujin coalesced as a group. He is depicted as a bald, rotund figure with a broad laugh, surrounded by children and pressing gifts upon them. His sack never empties. Among gods of wealth and commerce, he is the one who owns nothing.
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