This roly-poly doll which always stands up was compared to the anecdote of Bodhidharma's persistence during his nine-year Zen meditation of wall-gazing, after which the face of Bodhidharma was painted on the doll.
その何度でも起き上がる様子が、達磨の面壁九年という坐禅をし続けた逸話に見立てられ、達磨の顔が描かれるようになった。