Nichiren acknowledged the tradition that held Zhiyi’s teacher Huisi to have been an embodiment of Avalokiteśvara in this world. However, Huisi had lived during the Semblance Dharma age, and Nichiren represents him as spreading only the trace teaching of the Lotus Sūtra. He saw Avalokiteśvara, like Mañjuśrī, Bhaiṣajyarāja, and Samantabhadra, as bodhisattvas of the pre-Lotus Sūtra and trace teachings. “Since they were not bearers Myōhō-renge-kyō], they were perhaps unequal to propagating it in the Final Dharma age,” he suggested.