These four officials are the scribes of Yan Wang (fig.), who is also known as Yan Mo (fig.), the king of death and the counterpart of the Vedic god Yama (fig.). They are collecively known as the Magistrates of the Netherworld and keep record of the deeds of humankind.

As such, they are the counterparts of Citragupta in the Vedic tradition, and of Suwan and Suwaan in the Thai tradition (fig.). Whereas one records the good deeds, the other records the bad deeds, and both have one controller each, bringing their total number to four.