Legend has it that a monk from Chekiang whose real name was Ch’i-tz’u was thought upon his death in 916 to have been an incarnation of Maitreya. He carried all his belongings in a hemp bag (Pu-tai or Budai), hence his alternative name Pu-tai. Maitreya is found in every Chinese temple as the Laughing Fat-bellied Buddha.
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