Chinese Buddhist Holy Figure: "Budai"

This Chinese Buddhist statue represents the "Maitreya" or future Buddha.

Chinese Buddhists believe that Budai is an incarnation of this future Buddha. Budai is always represented with a pot belly which symbolizes happiness, good luck and plenty. Tradition says that if a person rubs the maitreya's belly, the person will have good luck. Budai is commonly referred to as the "Laughing Buddha."

Budai is almost always represented as carrying a cloth or linen sack, which never empties, and is filled with many precious items, including rice plants (indicating wealth), sweets for children, food, small mammals, and the woes of the world. Sometimes it can be filled with children, as they are seen as some of those precious items of this world. His duty is patron of the weak, the poor and children.

Buddhism is a religion in which people follow the teachings of the Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) who lived and taught about 2500 years ago. Buddhists do not believe in a personal creator god. Buddhists believe in the Four Noble Truths, including that life is suffering because we are attached to our desires, but that suffering and attachment can be ended by living according to the Noble Eight-fold Path (ex. right thinking, right working, right speaking). The holy book is called the Tripitaka. It contains the teachings of the Buddha. Buddhists believe in rebirth after death (reincarnation). Their goal is to become Enlightened, to achieve Nirvana, and break the cycle of birth and death.


Source:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/42545#:~:text=Named after the cloth sack,people in the mortal world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budai