佛祖統紀 51.10

51.10

漢明帝。問摩騰法師曰。佛出世何不及此。答曰。佛雖不往。然光明及處。千年五百。皆有聖人傳佛聲教。而往化之。

Emperor Ming of the Han asked Dharma Master Mātanga: 'Why did the Buddha's appearance in the world not reach this place?' He replied: 'Although the Buddha did not go there, wherever his radiance reached, every one thousand or five hundred years there were sages who transmitted the Buddha's voiced teachings and went to transform them.'