天台智者大師為觀音信仰的提倡者，他的《觀世音普門品》的注釋是現存《大正藏》是最早的單行本註釋，極具文獻價值。其中《觀音義疏》是以天台理論及「貼文」、「約證」及「觀解」等三個層次來解釋經文，因此可說是一部理論是信仰兼具的註釋書，極具智者大師個人及天台宗派色彩。 智者大師在《觀音義疏》中曾引用十七則《觀世音應驗記》故事，作為觀世音菩薩「普門示現」的例證。然而《觀音義疏》所引用的觀音靈驗記，內容不完整、未能一睹故事全文，對於智者大師十七則觀音靈驗記的目的與意義也未進一步闡述。由於故事原文在中國唐朝已失傳，近年於日本青蓮院重新發現手抄本，因此，本文首先希望還原《觀音義疏》十七則故事全文；其次以智者大師大觀音感應論為線索，試圖理解智者大師對觀音靈驗記的詮釋。 本文藉由智者大師的感應理論來看觀音靈驗記時，可以知道「惡機」之「苦」是眾生與觀世音菩薩感應道交的「逆增上緣」，而觀音靈驗記可以說是深入淺出地說明著這樣的理念。智者大師並不否定這類的觀音靈驗故事對於修道人有著階段性的啟發，但強調必須體會觀世音菩薩的千百億示現，無非是引導眾生入於究竟佛道方便度化。因此，修行者不能過份著迷於有相的感應，而要學習般若空慧，才能由「有相的感應門」進入「無相的真實門」，體會「法身無所不在」、「一色一香無非中道」及「善惡機緣」都是觀世音菩薩對眾生無所不在的「普門示現」與「圓觀教化」。

T'en-Tai Master Chih-I is a supporter of Kuan-yin cult, his interpretation of Kuan-yin chapter is the earliest published interpretation and is very valuable. Among them, “Kuan-yin-i-su was explained with T'en-Tai's theories and three structures including explaining basis meaning, making tales of miracles and explaining by contemplation. Thus it can be said that it is a theoretical and faithful text full of the characteristics of Master Chih-I and T'en-Tai school. In Kuan-yin-i-su, T'ien-t'ai Great Teacher Chih-i quoted seventeen stories of Kuan-yin's miraculous response to his devotees as examples to explain the universal manifestations of Kuan-yin Bodhisattva. However, the contents of the stories recored by Kuan-Tin in Kuan-yin-i-su are so abridged that it is difficult for its readers to see their whole feature and understand Chih-i's interpretations of those stories. Although the original texts of Kuan-yin's miraculous tales cited by Chih-i in Kuan-yin-i-su lost in T'ang Danasty, its manuscripts were found at Ch'ing-Lien-yüan in Japan about sixty years ago. Before I discussed Chih-i's interpretations of those abridged stories of empathy and response in Kuan-yin-i-su, I will first restore the whole contents of those stories in my essay; secondly, I will try to find the association between Chih-i's theories of empathy and response and the stories of Kuan-yin's miraculous response according to Chih-i's thought of empathy and response. Judging by Master Chih-i's theory of Kuan-yin's empathy and respond suffering itself is a good way to communicate with Kuan-yin, the idea was described in simple terms in Kuan-yin's miracle tales. In Chih-i's idea, thought Kuan-yin's miracle tales can develop Buddhist disciple's mind in some situation, however it is just a mean and its purpose is to lead people to be eternally enlightenment. Hence, Buddhist disciples should not indulge into the various manifestations of Kuan-yin. In fact, by learning prajñā they can go from ‘the conventional gate of empathy and respond' to ‘the real gate of emptiness', and understand ‘the dharma-kāya exists everwhere', ‘any form and smell is middleway' as well as all good and bad conditions are universal manifestations and perfect teachings from Boddhisattva Kuan-yin.