 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 ) . 
 Zhou <a href='null_genetive' title='1'><mark>'s</mark></a>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 <a href='uninflect' title='2'><mark>suggests</mark></a> 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 <a href='uninflect' title='3'><mark>goes</mark></a> on to say that Qian Cai , Yue <a href='null_genetive' title='4'><mark>'s</mark></a>fictional biographer , associated Zhou with the outlaws because " most such teachers [ in the military romance genre ] <a href='drop_aux' title='5'><mark>are</mark></a>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 <a href='drop_aux' title='6'><mark>are</mark></a>reincarnations of demons ( Lin and Lu ) and the celestial bird Garuda ( Yue Fei ) . 
Zhou  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 suggest da mold from which all other similar teachers r 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 go on to say that Qian Cai , Yue  fictional biographer , associated Zhou w/ the outlaws bc " most such teachers [ in the military romance genre ] celestials " with at least 2 students . But in adopting this format , Qian reversed tdatraditional pattern of " celestial tutelage " since Zhou is written as a human , while his students reincarnations of demons ( Lin and Lu ) and the celestial bird Garuda ( Yue Fei ) .