Sudhanakumāra (), mainly known as Sudhana and Shancai or Shancai Tongzi in Chinese, and translated as Child of Wealth, along with Longnü "Dragon Girl" are considered acolytes of the bodhisattva Guanyin (Avalokiteśvara) in Chinese Buddhism. He and Longnü being depicted with Guanyin was most likely influenced by Yunü (Jade Maiden) and Jintong (Golden Youth) who both appear in the iconography of the Jade Emperor.
A fictionalised account of Sudhana is detailed in the classical novel Journey to the West, where Sudhana is portrayed as a villain, Red Boy, who is eventually subdued by Guanyin and becomes the bodhisattva's attendant.
Gandavyuha Sutra
Sudhana was a youth from India who was seeking bodhi (enlightenment). At the behest of the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, Sudhana takes a pilgrimage on his quest for enlightenment and studies under 53 "good friends", those who direct one towards the Way to Enlightenment. The 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō are a metaphor for Sudhana's journey. Avalokiteśvara is the 28th spiritual master Sudhana visits at Mount Potalaka. Sudhana's quest reaches it climax at when he meets Maitreya, the Future Buddha, who snaps his fingers, thereby opening the doors to his marvelous tower. Within the tower, Sudhana experiences all the dharmadhatus (dimensions or worlds) in a fantastic succession of visions. The final master he visits is Samantabhadra, who teaches Sudhana that wisdom only exists for the sake of putting it into practice.
The pilgrimage of Sudhana mirrors that of Gautama Buddha and the Gandavyuha sutra becomes very popular in China during the Song dynasty when it was adapted and circulated in small amply illustrated booklets, each page dedicated to one of Sudhana's spiritual teachers.
Tale of the Southern Seas
Chapter 18 of the Complete Tale of Guanyin and the Southern Seas (), a 16th-century Ming dynasty novel, is the first text that established a connection between Shancai and Guanyin. In the tale, Shancai was a disabled boy from India who was very interested in studying the Buddha's teachings. At that time, Guanyin had just achieved enlightenment and had retired to Mount Putuo, an island in the South China Sea. When Shancai heard that there was a bodhisattva on Mount Putuo, he quickly journeyed there to learn from her despite his disability.
Guanyin, after having a discussion with Shancai, decided to test his resolve to fully study the Buddhist Dharma. She transformed the trees and plants into sword-wielding pirates, who ran up the hill to attack them. Guanyin took off and dashed to the edge of a cliff and jumped off, with the pirates still in pursuit. Shancai, in his desperation to save Guanyin, jumped off after her.
Shancai and Guanyin managed to reascend the cliff, and at this point, Guanyin asked Shancai to look down. Shancai saw his mortal remains at the foot of the cliff. Guanyin then asked him to walk and Shancai found that he could walk normally and that he was no longer crippled. When he looked into a pool of water, he also discovered that he now had a handsome face. From that day onwards, Guanyin taught Shancai the entire Buddhist dharma. Guanyin and Shancai later encountered the third daughter of the Dragon King, and in the process, Guanyin earned Longnü as a new acolyte.
Precious Scrolls of Shancai and Longnü
The Precious Scroll of Shancai and Longnü (), an 18th or 19th century scroll comprising 29 folios, provides a different account on how Shancai and Longnü became the acolytes of Guanyin. This tale seems to have a Taoist origin. The story is set in the Qianfu era of the reign of Emperor Xizong of Tang.
A virtuous minister Chen Bao and his wife Lady Han are still childless when they are getting older. When Chen rejects his wife's recommendation to take a concubine, she suggested that they pray to the bodhisattva Guanyin for help. Guanyin saw that the couple was destined to not have any children, so she ordered a Boy Who Brings Wealth () to be born into the family. Lady Han soon gave birth to a boy, who was named Chen Lian. She died when his son was only five years old.
As a child, Chen Lian was not interested in civil or military pursuits, but rather, in religious enlightenment, much to his father's disapproval. At the age of seven, his father finally gave in to his pleas and allowed him to study under the tutelage of the Yellow Dragon Immortal (). Chen Lian was renamed to Shancai and became a dutiful apprentice of the immortal. However, he ignored all of his father's requests to visit home during his apprenticeship.