Vintage Gold Happy Buddha HoTai Figure

Happy HoTai Prosperity Buddha

A beautiful Chinese style Buddha with a large round belly and happy, smiling face.
This Buddha figure is holding a gold ingot aloft in his lef hand, a symbol for prosperity.

HoTai, as he is known in Chinese, is often confused with the Historical Buddha. HoTai is not the Buddha at all, but is actually a revered Chinese Monk.

He is comparable to the Santa Claus because HoTai was famous for his Buddhist sermons and for his bag full of gifts, which he brought to children in order to reward them for coming to learn about the Dharma. 

Part of the reason HoTai is confused with the Buddha is because they both wear robes, and that in certain languages the word for the Buddha and for Monks is the same.