The Sung Chiang brigade started out as a real village self-defense force, then went on to take on increasingly greater religious significance; he is popularly assigned the task of driving away ill-willed harpies and banshees and protecting against malevolent pixies.
宋江由真人、小說中強梁，到成為英雄，再轉為天上星宿；宋江陣也在實際戰鬥、衛鄉功能外，有了越來越強的宗教力量，民間甚至賦予驅魔制煞的巫術功能。