Laughing Buddha

I don't really know what came on me when I was suddenly reminded of a particular character found in Chinese mythology - the Laughing Buddha. I Googled for his image and found him quite interesting. He is always depicted with a smiling face and carrying a gold nugget or something. It seems to me that he is seen as someone who would bring blessings to those who placed their faith in him. But what if this is totally bogus. What if this laughing Buddha is totally not what he seems to be. I imagined him as a wealthy but abusive lord, putting everyone to slave for him; promised everyone payments of gold but never kept to his promise. He then made sculptures and statues of himself as a philanthropist to cover his evil deeds and intentions.

[caption id="attachment_820" align="alignnone" width="522" caption="Laughing Buddha"][/caption]