Hotei
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Hotei (830 CE - 902 CE) A Chinese monk from the Chan (precursor to Zen) school. Many people confuse him as THE Buddha, when in fact he was a Buddhist monk. He may have been a buddha, such as an arahant (enlightened), but not THE Buddha of our time. A common statue at Chinese restaurants and temples so that many have confused him as the founder of Buddhism, which is not the case. He is always shown with a big belly as he is said to have enjoyed candy and also passed candy out to children.