Puti Zushi

Puti Zushi (simplified Chinese: 菩提祖师; traditional Chinese: 菩提祖師; pinyin: Pútí Zǔshī; Wade–Giles: P‘u2-t'i2 Tsu3-shih1; Jyutping: Pou4 tai4 Zou2si1), is a character from the 16th century Chinese novel Journey to the West. The character is believed to be derived from Subhūti, one of the ten principal disciples of the Buddha. Puti Zushi was a mentor and master of the main protagonist Sun Wukong, endowing him with supernatural powers through Taoism practices. These include the "seventy-two earthly transformations" (shape-shifting abilities), 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. Sun Wukong's first meeting with Puti Zushi is believed to be based on the story of Huineng's Introduction to Hongren, as told in the Platform Sūtra of Zen Buddhism. Because of the role that Puti Zushi portrays in the story, his name has remained familiar in Chinese culture. He is described as proficient in Taoism practice.