This is a story of two fat, Buddhist monks. One story comes from China and the other comes from Thailand. Many people link them with the Buddha, but they come from various local traditions that were absorbed into Buddhism.

The first is the popular Laughing Buddha. In China, he is called Budai. In Japan, he was called Hotei. He is a semi-historical Chinese monk, who lived 1,000 years ago who became part of the Zen pantheon. This was done in the hope that the induction of such likeable, odd figures would call people to follow Zen Buddhism. The story goes that he was a fat, bald monk who wore a robe and carried few possessions in a sack cloth. But, although he was poor and had nothing, he was always content. He would always smile, laugh and entertain children with song and dance. Children adored him and followed him, whenever he entered the village. He would laugh and pat his large belly, give them little gifts from his bag. He never complained, slept without a blanket and always seemed satisfied. Thus, his image became associated with contentment and abundance. Many people claimed he was Maitreya Buddha or he will be reborn as the Maitreya Buddha or the Buddha of the future. Clearly, the Laughing Buddha had his origin in local Daoist tradition. His image is nowadays used as part of Feng-Shui to attract positive energy and fortune. Some people believe that the idea of Budai spread to the Christian world inspiring the character of Santa Claus.