The Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra was first translated into Chinese by the Kushan Buddhist monk Lokaksema in 179 CE, at the Han capital of Luoyang.
It seems likely that translations of the latter type, which resemble those produced by Lokakṣema, may have been produced early in his career when Zhi Qian was still an active member of the circle of Lokakṣema's heirs; the more literary works in Zhi Qian's corpus appear to have been produced after his move to the south, and they share many stylistic features with the work of his Wu-kingdom contemporary, Kang Senghui (fl. 247-280 CE).