This scroll bears an inscription identifying the figures in the painting as "the exalted emperors Tu Fu (god of the earth), Chih-tsun, Chiu-lei, and the Gods of the Five Directions." The chief figures are all dressed in formal court robes and hats descending from heaven with perfect Confucian decorum.

The Water and Land Ritual pantheon was supposed to encompass all the gods, deities, natural spirits, local gods, and spirits of deceased human beings. Though a Buddhist ritual, paragons of Confucian virtue as well as Taoist deities were integrated into paintings used in this ritual.