Child-Giving Guanyin (Songzi Guanyin), 16th century, Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Gilt bronze, 16.51 x 10.8 x 7.14 cm. Gift of Ruth and Bruce Dayton, 97.134.1 © Minneapolis Institute of Art

Guanyin, one of the most popular of all Buddhist deities, is shown here holding an infant boy in her lap; she is Songzi, the Child-Giving Guanyin. Male children were extremely important to Confucian family structure. They ensured not only the continuity of family and clan, but that there would be uninterrupted generations to carry on the rituals of ancestral worship. The Child-Giving Guanyin was prayed to by worshipers for healthy children and intelligent male heirs.