近代以來關於華嚴宗傳承的研究，由於受到部分西方與日本學者之重視文獻與歷史考據等外部方法的影響，提出不少懷疑乃至非議華嚴宗傳承的說法。這些對於華嚴宗傳承的疑難，極少是由古人對於華嚴宗傳承的立場來詳加考察。本文之有別於前人研究成果之處，正是企圖在尊重古人的論述脈絡下，嘗試挖掘出有關華嚴宗之傳承，自有其歷代相承 不絕之DNA，這DNA，正是華嚴宗之所以能在新的時代中重新活化的活水源頭。考察的方向，則是由華嚴宗諸祖之判教入手，對象包括了賢首、清涼、圭峰三位唐代祖師，以及北宋初期的長水與晉水。考察結果發現，從賢首的「頓、終二教法在圓中」，清涼的「後三教皆同一乘」，到圭峰之將終、頓、圓三教同歸於一乘顯性教，顯示出了唐代華嚴宗諸祖之間DNA的傳承。而經過唐末五代的沒落之後，北宋初年的長水，傳承了唐代華嚴宗諸祖的DNA，高唱「三教皆屬圓收」、「三教圓實不殊」。其弟子晉水，則進一步將此DNA植入新的行法中，建構出圓教修行包含同教一心（終教一心與頓教一心）及別教一心的行法架構。由此可以得出以下的結論，即欲進入華嚴宗圓教的基本門檻，在於終教。因此，由判教的角度來看，華嚴宗由唐至宋所傳承的DNA，的確要屬終教，殆無疑義。

The research on the Huayan School lineage in recent times, due to the influence of some external methods such as the emphasis on literature and historical research by some Western and Japanese scholars, has raised a lot of doubts and even criticisms about the lineage inheritance of the Huayan School. These doubts of the lineage of Huayan School were seldom prudently investigated from the standpoint of the Huayan School patriarchs. This article departs from the previous research results, particularly in an attempt to extricate the transmission inheritance of the Huayen School in the context from the patriarchs themselves to unearth the DNA of its own inheritance. This DNA, specifically would be the source of fresh living water that can energize and rejuvenate in the new era. The investigation was directed from the classification system of all the great patriarchs of the Huayan School, including the three great masters of the Tang Dynasty, Xianshou, Qingliang and Guifeng as well as Changshui and Jinshui in the early Northern Song Dynasty. The study found that the classification systems from Xianshou’s ＂The two teachings, Sudden and Final are in the Perfect (Teaching)＂, Qingliang’s ＂The last three Teachings are all the same as the One Vehicle＂, till Guifeng whom attributed the Final、Sudden and Perfect three Teachings to the Teaching of the exoteric nature of One Vehicle, establishes the DNA inheritance among the Huayen patriarchs of the Tang Dynasty. After the decline of the late Tang and the Five Dynasties, ChangShui in the Northern Song Dynasty inherited the DNA of the Huayen Patriarchs from the Tang Dynasty, singled out ＂The Three Teachings are all subordinated to the Perfect Teaching＂, ＂The Three Teachings are not differentiated from Perfect Reality.＂ His disciple, JinShui, further implanted this DNA in a framework of new practice to formulate the Perfect Teaching practices including the practice of One Mind in the Common Teaching (One Mind in the Final Teaching and One Mind in the Sudden Teaching) and the structure of the practice of One Mind in the Distinct Teaching. We can draw the following conclusion from this, that is, the aspiration to enter the foundational threshold of the Perfect Teaching of the Huayen School is the Final Teaching. Therefore, from the Teaching Classification viewpoint; the DNA inherited in the Huayen School from the Tang to the Song dynasties really belongs to the Final Teaching, and there is no doubt about it.