集沙門不應拜俗等事 3.22

3.22

The Book of Han states: "During the Yuanshou era of Emperor Wu, a golden figure over a zhang in height was captured beyond the Western Regions and set up in the Ganquan Palace. The Emperor took it to be a great deity, burning incense and bowing in worship to it. Later he dispatched Zhang Qian to Daxia to search for it, and [Zhang Qian] reported that there was the country of Shendu, which is Tianzhu (India). What they called fotu is the Buddha." This was when the name and appearance of the Buddha were first known.