The three sorcerers grow disillusioned with Wang's impropriety and defect to the government forces headed by Wen Yanbo, who had arrived to suppress the rebels.

[5] Legends of Wang Ze and his revolt, a historical event, were popular since the Yuan Dynasty and commonly embellished with elements from Chinese mythology.

[7] The appearance of lijia, a social institution for local governance in rural areas, suggests that the text was written during or after the 15th century, but this may have been an alteration by a later editor.

[9] Feng Menglong wrote a new and longer version of the story to improve what he perceived as the novel's shortcomings.

[2] According to translator Nathan Sturman, Feng Menglong's version is one of the world's first psychological novels, which he compares to the Faust stories.

[3] Ota Tatsuo wrote the first extensive contemporary non-Chinese analysis of the work in 1967,[3] and the scholarship and critical views of Patrick Hanan were important in following years.