Puti Zushi (), also known as Master Bodhi, Patriarch Bodhi or Patriarch Subodhi (, is a character from the 16th century Chinese novel '' Journey to the West''. The character is believed to be derived from

Subhūti Subhūti (Pali: Subhūti; ) was one of the ten principal disciples of the Buddha. In Theravada Buddhism he is considered the disciple who was foremost in being " worthy of gifts" (Pali: ''dakkhiṇeyyānaṃ'') and "living remote and in peace" (P ...

, one of the

ten principal disciples The ten principal disciples were the main disciples of Gautama Buddha. Depending on the scripture, the disciples included in this group vary. In many Mahāyāna discourses, these ten disciples are mentioned, but in differing order. The ten discip ...

the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

Background

Puti was a mentor and tutor of the protagonist, the Monkey King (known as Sun Wukong in Chinese), endowing him with supernatural powers through

Taoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...

practices. These include the "seventy-two earthly transformations" (shape-shifting abilities), immortality, and cloud-somersaulting, the ability to traverse 108,000 li (used as a synonym for " indefinitely large number", although literally a distance of ~54,000 km) in one somersault. Puti foresaw the flaws in his disciple's character, most notably his ego and amorality; therefore, he would later request Sun Wukong to keep his discipleship a secret. Sun Wukong's first meeting with Master Puti is believed to be based on the story of '' Huineng's Introduction to Hongren'', as told in the Platform Sūtra of

Zen Buddhism Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

. Because of the role that Subhūti plays in the story, his name has remained familiar in Chinese culture.Nan Huaijin. ''Diamond Sutra Explained''. Florham Park: Primordia, 2004. Page 25. He is described as proficient in both Taoist and Buddhists practices.

References

{{Fict-char-stub Chinese deities Chinese gods Journey to the West characters Shapeshifting

Background

See also

References