According to scholar Angela Falco Howard, the meditating figure at the center of the wheel is Zhao Zhifeng, creator of the Baodingshan site. The rays, emanating from Zhao, partition the innermost ring of the wheel into the traditional six realms of reincarnation. Proceeding clockwise from the top, these are the realms of gods, men, hungry ghosts, hell, animals, and demigods (asuras). The middle ring illustrates the chain of causes, technically called "links of dependent origination," in Buddhist philosophy: ignorance, sickness, death, old age, desire, etc. The outer ring illustrates various reincarnations of men and animals.