Qianliyan's sharp vision is employed to help protect sailors at night and during fog and other inclement weather. Qianliyan is most often portrayed as a
demon defeated and tamed or befriended by the
sea goddess Mazu. By one account, he and Shunfeng'er appeared off
Meizhou Island during a storm and were defeated by Mazu's magical silk scarf, which blew clouds of sand into their eyes and ears. After their submission, they pledged their loyalty when she kindly healed them of the damage she had caused them. In another, the two were Song generals who competed for her hand at Peach Blossom Mountain
Táohuā Shān) but were both defeated by her
kung fu. In another, the two were the brothers Gao Ming and Gao Jue. Ruthless generals, they fell at Peach Blossom Mountain and subsequently haunted it as demons. They appeared to Mazu when she traveled nearby and challenged her to battle, with the loser to do the winner's bidding. They intended to have her marry them both but were defeated by her magic and became her servants. In still another, the Gao brothers were bandits during the
Shang before they began to haunt the mountain. In still another account, the pair were originally warriors or guards of
Di Xin. In this version of the story, they are sometimes said to have already possessed their superhuman powers and to have used them to foil the first moves towards rebellion by the
Zhou. Ji Fa's advisor
Jiang Ziya is made out to have been a
Taoist adept, however, who uses the esoteric knowledge he received from the
Primordial Lord of Heaven on to defeat them. Their powers fail them when he covers them in the blood of a black dog and Ji Fa is able to triumph at
Muye and finally establish himself as the
Martial King of Zhou ("King Wu"). ==Legacy==