"Was Angulimāla, the bandit-turned-disciple of the Buddha, a historical figure or a purely symbolic character in Buddhist literature? What evidence supports either view?"

In Osamu Tezuka's manga Buddha, Assaji was eaten alive by wolves or wild dogs. I always thought the manga artist came up with a lot of his own original stories. Because this story and others are not on wikipedia. But then I recently watched an old Hong Kong TV show Journey to the West II (1998) and it depicted the same story of Assaji being eaten alive. And that of King Bimbisara being killed by his own son, as predicted by Assaji. As influential as the manga was, it seems unlikely that a Hong Kong TV show would have picked a story from a manga. Is it possible, in Japanese or Chinese Buddhism, they have their own set of canonical stories? And they are unfortunately hard to find on the English internet?

**Purpose:** Find out the origin (reference) of this story. **Situation:** I got to know this Scorpion story from these websites. - Dare to the Motivation - The Nature of Things The summary of this story is like this. The scorpion stung the man but he saved the scorpion. Because even though to sting is the scorpion's nature, his nature to save won't change. **Problem:** Unfortunately, neither one have the reference to the story. It could be a fake story and I want to find out if it is a true Buddhism story or not. I sent messages to both of the administrators. But I got no replies. **Comment** Does anyone know the original book of this story? Thank you.

>Once upon a time there was a beggar who wanted to sit in the Buddha's seat in a temple. The Buddha agreed, with one requirement: keep silence. > >At first, a rich man went to the temple to ask for virtue. When the rich man went out, his wallet felt out without his notice. The beggar was about to call him back, but remembering his requirement he kept silence. > >Then a poor man went in and ask for a better life. When bowing he saw the rich man's wallet, and thought that the Buddha gave this to him. The beggar was about to call him back, but remembering his requirement he kept silence. > >Then a fisherman went in and ask for a good journey in the sea, because the sea was so violent (large waves, strong wind). Suddenly the rich man returned to find his wallet. Seeing only the fisherman, he thought it's him who stole his wallet and hit him. This time the beggar couldn't hold back and explain the whole story. > >Then the Buddha returned and told the beggar that had he kept silence, then the rich man had learnt his virtue lesson, the poor man had had a better life, and the fisherman's life had been rescued because he would stay home otherwise. > >The lesson here is that we just need to keep observe and not influence our wants and needs. Do you know what story is this? Which would be its origin? Source: [Chuyện kẻ lang thang muốn đổi chỗ ngồi với Bồ Tát](https://nguoiphattu.com/thu-vien/tho-truyen-sach/8608-chuyen-ke-lang-thang-muon-doi-cho-ngoi-voi-bo-tat.html "Chuyện kẻ lang thang muốn đổi chỗ ngồi với Bồ Tát | Người Phật Tử - nguoiphattu.com - Phật giáo Việt Nam") (Vietnamese)

I vaguely recall reading this story before, possible from the Suttas. Can anyone tell me the scriptural source? (Not looking for modern re-telling such as those by Ven Thich Nhat Hanh.) > THE LOST SON > > "A young widower, who loved his five year old son very much, was away > on business when bandits came who burned down the whole village and > took his son away. When the man returned, he saw the ruins and > panicked. The took the burnt corpse of an infant to be his son and > cried uncontrollably. He organised a cremation ceremony, collected the > ashes and put them in a beautiful little bag which he always kept with > him. Soon afterwards, his real son escaped from the bandits and found > his way home. He arrived at his father's new cottage at midnight and > knocked at the door. The father, still grieving asked: "Who is it?" > The child answered, it is me papa, open the door!" But in his agitated > state of mind, convinced his son was dead, the father thought that > some young boy was making fun of him. He shouted: "Go away" and > continued to cry. After some time, the child left. Father and son > never saw each other again." After this story, the Buddha said: > "Sometime, somewhere, you take something to be the truth. If you cling > to it so much, even when the truth comes in person and knocks on your > door, you will not open it." > (http://viewonbuddhism.org/resources/buddhist_stories.html)