In later times the Bodhisattva was confused with the incarnation, in the same way as the portly figure of Pu-tai, commonly known as the laughing Buddha, has been substituted for Maitreya in Chinese iconography. In Japan the cult of the six Jizōs became very popular. They were regarded as the deities of roads and their effigies ultimately superseded the ancient phallic gods of the crossways.
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