《唐会要》保留了传世文献中唐玄宗设立开元官寺的两种不同记载，时间均系于开元二十六年（738）六月一日。《唐会要》卷48所云两京及天下诸州大云寺"至开元二十六年六月一日，并改为开元寺"之说并非史实，亦非玄宗诏敕原文。唐代地方诸州的开元官寺基本均符合"郭下"和"形胜"两个条件，可知《唐会要》卷50所载唐玄宗"敕每州各以郭下定形胜观寺，改以开元为额"的敕令在地方诸州得到了有效执行。唐玄宗设立开元官寺（官观）的敕令，实际上是为了接续唐代前期官寺设立过程中观寺并置的传统，维护道教在唐代的国教地位。

In the Records of Laws and Regulations in the Tang Dynasty, there are two versions of records about founding Kaiyuan Official Temples issued by Emperor Xuan-zong on June 1, the 26^th year of Kaiyuan. In its Volume 48, it is said that "the Cloud Temples in the two capitals and other prefectures are renamed Kaiyuan Official Temples". This is neither a fact nor the content of Emperor Xuan-zong's edict. Emperor Xuan-zong's edict that "local Buddhist and Taoist temples in favorable geographical locations in or near administrative centers shall be renamed Kaiyuan State Monasteries" in Volume 50 had been implemented effectively in each prefecture, which can be demonstrated by the fact that Kaiyuan Official Temples in each prefecture all meet these two requirements. In fact, Emperor Xuan-zong's edict was to inherit the tradition of establishing both Daoist and Buddhist temples and maintain the role of Daoism as the state religion in the Tang Dynasty.