Only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher's help.

Tanlin's original is imprecise about Bodhidharma's travels saying only that he "crossed distant mountains and seas" before arriving in Wei. "

After Bodhidharma left the Emperor asked the official in charge of the Imperial Annals about the encounter. "
The Emperor regretted his having let Bodhidharma leave and was going to dispatch a messenger to go and beg Bodhidharma to return.

He is referred as "The Blue-Eyed Barbarian" (碧眼胡) in Chinese Chan texts. Modern scholarship dates him to about the early 5th century. Two popular traditions exist regarding Bodhidharma's origins.