In the author’s opinion, both the Dunhuang version of the Tanjing （c. 770） and the Biography of the Great Master of Caoxi （781） should be regarded as having been compiled by the school of Huijian 慧堅 （719-792）, who was a disciple of the Heze Shenhui 荷澤神會 （670-762） and was active in Chang’an. Therefore, the differences in Huineng’s 慧能 （638-713） biography in the two documents can be understood as reflecting the ideological changes of the Heze school in Chang’an. From the differences, we can see that the Heze school strengthened their tendency to mediate the conflicts between the Southern school and the Northern school of Chan and defend state Buddhism. We can recognize that the transition was caused by their having taken a position in state Buddhism.
