Fantianbi is the popular term for the gao Mace. "Bi" means the Chinese brush pen, which describes the shape of the head of the weapon. "Fantian" means that the head of this weapon points at the sky, instead of pointing downwards like the ordinary pen. This weapon is also called the jhua. According to historical records, the first person who used this weapon was Wun Syu in the East Han Dynasty. He was angry with the bandits who bullied the officials, so he used the jhua to kill several people.

       This weapon is not popular in China. It is said that a disciple of the Shaolin called Bai Yufong was interested in finding lost weapons and martial arts forms. Coincidentally he found this weapon in the Cangjingge room, and this weapon impressed him in that it could thump, blow, pierce and strike. He improved this weapon by shortening its shaft, which made it to be more like the Chinese brush pen. He also invented 12 forms for using this weapon. It is described as a special weapon in wusia novels. In Wubu Jhuihun, by the early novelist Chen Cingyun of Taiwan, a character carries a weapon called longtofongweibi, literally meaning the dragon head and phoenix tail pen. This weapon is also known as panguanbi, the pen of the judge in Hades. In Yitian Tulong Ji by Jin Yong, the main character Jhang Cuishan used this weapon to engrave twelve characters on a rocky cliff. He highly impressed his adopted father, Sie Syun known by his nickname the Golden Mane King.