Such miracles turned the Buddhist monk Ch'en P'u-tsu into the Pure Water Patriarch of folk belief, and with the immigration to Taiwan of settlers from Fukien his sphere of influence spread far beyond the confines of Chuanchow.
由於這些神奇事蹟，終於使得原為佛門子弟的陳普足成為民間崇拜的清水祖師，而且隨著閩南移民，渡海來台，「神力」範圍不再只限於福建泉州一帶。泉州人到那，清水祖師就到那「在中國民間信仰的神佛系統中，清水祖師是屬於地方性的鄉土神」，阮昌銳指出，這種神祇有當地人拜。