The oldest literature relating to "Jikku Kannongyo" is "Bussotoki" which was compiled in 1269 by a shamon (priest) named Chi-p'an (Shiban) in Nantoko under the Southern Sung Dynasty and which is a record of the lives of the founders of the Chinese Tendaishu sect; the literature contains the following record of the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties.
『十句観音経』に関する最古の文献は、中国天台宗の祖師列伝を記録した南宋咸淳四明東湖沙門志磐撰『仏祖統紀』（1269年）で、そこには次のような南北朝時代の記録が載せられている。