Budai is a nickname given to the ancient Chinese monk Qici who is often identified with and venerated as Maitreya Buddha in Chan Buddhism. With the spread of Chan Buddhism, he also came to be venerated in Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. He is said to have lived around the 10th century CE in the Wuyue kingdom.
Glazed ceramic sculpture of Budai. China, Ming dynasty, 1486.
Sculpture of Budai at the Feilai Feng grottoes in Zhejiang, China. Northern Song dynasty, 11th century.
Budai as Maitreya at the Feilai Feng grottoes, depicted with disciples.
Glazed ceramic sculpture of Budai. Ming dynasty, 1486.
Maitreya (Sanskrit) or Metteyya (Pali), is a bodhisattva who is regarded as the future Buddha of this world in all schools of Buddhism, prophesied to become Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha. In some Buddhist literature, such as the Amitabha Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, he is also referred to as Ajitā. In Tibetan Buddhism he is known as the "Lord of Love" or the "Noble Loving One". The root of his name is the Sanskrit word maitrī. The name Maitreya is also related to the Indo-Iranian name Mitra.
Schist Greco-Buddhist statue of Maitreya, Gandhara, ca. 3rd century
Bodhisattva Maitreya, Gandhara, 2nd-3rd cents., National Museum of Korea, Seoul
Greco-Buddhist standing Maitreya
Nepalese Maitreya sculpture, c. 11th century
