 Zhou 's portrayal as their teacher is connected to a recurring element in Chinese fiction where Tang and Song Dynasty heroes train under a " celestial master " , usually a Taoist immortal , prior to their military exploits . C.T. Hsia suggests the mold from which all other similar teachers are cast is Guiguzi , master of the feuding strategists Sun Bin and Pang Juan , from the Yuan Dynasty tale Latter Volume of the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Seven Kingdoms ( 七國春秋後集 ) . Hsia goes on to say that Qian Cai , Yue 's fictional biographer , associated Zhou with the outlaws because " most such teachers [ in the military romance genre ] are celestials " with at least two students . But in adopting this format , Qian reversed the traditional pattern of " celestial tutelage " since Zhou is written as a human , while his students are reincarnations of demons ( Lin and Lu ) and the celestial bird Garuda ( Yue Fei ) . 
