The Laughing Buddha is all about blurring the cultural divide between the Chinese, Japanese, Indian and now the Western world as it brings good fortunes to millions of Feng Shui enthusiasts.
Described as the Happy Man in the hundreds of Handloom House outlets in India, for years, now he is known as the Laughing Buddha even among the semi-literate sales persons. Chinese, of course, call him Hotei. He is believed to have existed in China as a real Buddhist monk China over 1,000 years ago.
Hotei, being a cheerful, contented Buddhist monk, is a wonderful little icon; where just the appearance can have the ability to cheer anyone up from a bad day. His largely exposed potbelly stomach protrudes in front of him as you almost hear the belly laughter emerging from the idol.
Typically, the origin of the Laughing Buddha, or Hotei, is from a mix in Buddhist and Shinto religions and can be traced back to the time of the Liang Dynasty in China. During this time, the story is, that there lived a Buddhist monk known as Pu-Tai and it is he who is today known as Hotei or Laughing Buddha or the Happy Man or Maitriya.