The image of Avalokitesvara was created by Chinese Buddhism. "The Lotus Sutra" says: "If a woman desires a man and worships and makes offerings to Guanyin Bodhisattva, she will give birth to a man of merit and wisdom; if she desires a woman, she will give birth to a decent and well-appeared daughter." This is the origin of the folk tradition of sending children to Guanyin. .
It is said that there was a man named Sun Daode in Yizhou of the Jin Dynasty. He was over fifty and had no children. His home is very close to the Buddhist temple. During the Jingping period, a monk who was familiar with him said to him: "If you really want to have a son, you must sincerely recite the Guanyin Sutra." Sun Daode accepted the monk's suggestion and started practicing every day. Chant sutras, burn incense, and make offerings to Guanyin. After some time, he dreamed of Guanyin, and the Bodhisattva told him: "You will have a fat son soon." Soon, Mrs. Sun gave birth to a chubby boy.
There is a similar record in "Yixiang Ji": In Jiyin of the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a layman named Bian Yuezhi who was fifty years old and had no children. I have been married to my concubine for several years, but she has not become pregnant. Bian Yuezhi prayed to Guanyin Bodhisattva for an heir and vowed to recite the Guanyin Sutra a thousand times. From then on, I chanted the sutra a thousand times every day. When I was about to finish it, I became pregnant and gave birth to a son soon after.
According to legend, in ancient times, there was a man named Wang Yu in Daningfang, Nanjing. He was over forty and had no children. When his friend Ma Gong drank the family god, he saw a copy of the "White Guanyin Sutra" and devoted himself to it. Read it. From now on, I will read it every day and never slack off. On the night of April 14th of the following year, his mother-in-law Mrs. Liu dreamed of a man in white, wearing a golden crown, holding a baby, and said to her: "I will send you a holy slave." Mrs. Liu took the baby and held it in her arms inside. The next day, her daughter gave birth to a son who looked just like the baby sent by the man in white in the dream, so she named the child "Holy Monk Slave".