集神州三寶感通錄 2.2

2.2

From the time the Dharma moved to the Eastern Han and the teachings gradually spread to Southern Wu, numinous signs of Buddhist images have filled the land. Although various records cite different cases with variations in appearance and disappearance, their auspicious traces are essentially without distinction. They are now arranged in sequence, though seldom separated strictly by dynasty. Why so? Because in some cases an image was displayed in the Jin dynasty while its chronology extended into the Sui and Tang; or in other cases the transformation was centered on a person, while its traces fluctuated with circumstance. Thus they could not be cataloged in rigid order, and have instead been systematically assembled here.