The Story of Pu-tai

Another Ch'an eccentric is the potbellied Pu-tai, the only personage of this group who became a popular deity in Chinese folk religion. The biographical works list him under the monk's name Ch'i-tz'u, a weird name meaning "Congruent with This." His name Pu-tai is a facetious, punning nickname, for it can mean "cloth bag" or "glutton." Pu-tai carried a cloth bag on a stick over his shoulder. Wandering around the country, he begged for food and alms, and whatever he received he promptly put into his bag.

-from Zen Painting and Calligraphy by J. Fontein and M.L. Hickman

by Mokuan

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