It is said to be a yokai created by Sekien based on an anecdote about Shubin, a Buddhist monk of the early Heian period, which appeared in a war chronicle "Taiheiki" (The Record of the Great Peace).
軍記物語『太平記』にある平安時代前期の僧・守敏の逸話をもとに石燕が創作した妖怪とされる。