A lovely three-year-old boy who likes to dress up as a monk has been melting hearts online across China. With a shaved head, a sweet smile and a clumsy walk, Chen Zhaoyu from Wenling city in east China’s Zhejiang province has been gaining fans by the hundreds on social media.
Yan Yiping, the boy’s mother, said she dressed her son as a monk based on her favourite cartoon character, Ikkyu, from the famous 1980s Japanese anime Ikkyu-san. The cartoon series follows a child monk in Japan who relied on his wit to solve various problems during his stay at the Ankokuji Temple. At the time, Chinese television translated and broadcast around 100 episodes, which were a huge hit among children. “Ikkyu-san is a large part of my childhood memory,” Yan added. “Ikkyu was my hero, and I adored him.”
As for the videos of the little modern-day monk, Chen is often seen wearing grey or white robes, a string of prayer beads and round sunglasses as he goes about his daily life. His mother, as well as his pet squirrel and rabbit, acts as his co-stars from time to time.
Chen currently has more than 320,000 followers on popular short video site Kuaishou, where his videos are being viewed by the thousands. “I never expected my son to be famous. I just thought it would be fun to dress him as a monk, take videos for him and share it with my friends,” Yan said.
Yan said she has been shaving her son’s hair every month over the past year to maintain the image of her little star. “He’s quite popular in our local temples now,” she said. “Every time we visit the temples a lot of people would come and take pictures with him. We hope that one of the abbots at the Tianhuang Temple will accept my son as a disciple. If so, I think he would be the youngest disciple!” she added.
本时文内容由奇速英语国际教育研究院原创编写,未经书面授权,禁止复制和任何商业用途,版权所有,侵权必究!(作者投稿及时文阅读定制请联系微信:400-1000-028)