How were dreams and visions seen in the context of Chinese Buddhism?
Good question. Most Buddhist teachers do advise us to try to ignore dreams and visions. Hard to do, sometimes. Still, in some places, they do place credence on dreams. During the Kalachakra Initiation, a 2 or 3-day affair, after the first day's teachings, the student is advised to try to remember his dream from that night.  [http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/x/nav/n.html_554862326.html] The common factor between your question and the above, perhaps, is that a Boddhisatva or a Buddha is presemed to be giving the initiation, and perhaps the dream, too. There is also a Dream Yoga practice in the "Six Yogas of Naropa" practices. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_yoga]. In the advanced practice of the Completion Stage of the Mahamudra, the Six Yogas are practiced. One of them is the Dream Yoga practice, which is, again, only useful for advanced practioners. [http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/archives/advanced/mahamudra/karma_kagyu_mm/commentary_aspiration_prayer_definitive_meaning_mm/mm_prayer_commentary_02.html?query=six+yogas+of+naropa] Hope that helps.
ps. I tried to make a comment on your Brahma Net Project site, but for some reason the FaceBook login does not work on the network where I work. And I can not figure out how to get an account on your site. Maybe you need an "how to get an BNP site account for dummies page" there. Thanks.