Another context in which ts'an Ch'an occurred was in the practice of monks making the rounds to accomplished masters. This custom allowed monks to pay their respects to the masters, but also gave them an opportunity to have dialogue with the master. Sometimes, these practitioners had reached an impasse in their investigation, and needed chuan-yu 轉語, some "turning words" from a master to give them the impetus for a breakthrough. However, dialogue did not always occur. When Chao-chou was still a disciple visiting various masters, he went to see Master Pao-shou 寶壽(?-?). At that time, Pao-shou was doing tso-ch'an. Seeing Chao-chou, he remained on his cushion, doing tso-ch'an. At this, Chao-chou prostrated before him. Pao-shou left his cushion to greet Chao-chou, but by then Chao-chou had already left, saying nothing.

Another way kung-an and hua-t'ou are closely related is that a hua-t'ou can give rise to a kung-an, and vice versa. For example, the question "The 10, 000 dharmas return to One; to what does the One return?" was originally a simple hua-t'ou. Once a student asked Chao-chou this same question, to which the master answered, "The fabric I bought from Ch'ing-chou 青州 weighs seven chin 斤." A hua-t'ou became a kung-an because of the interaction with the master, and the answer he gave to it.

The central or key phrase in a kung-an frequently serves as the source for a hua-t'ou. The often-used hua-t'ou "What is wu?", is derived from Chao-chou's "Does a dog have Buddha-nature?" kung-an.