Learn Chinese with Black Myth: Zhong Kui — Vocabulary + Chengyu for Ghost-Hunting Stories

Game Science’s next Black Myth project is (so far) less a “story you can spoil” than a cultural signal: after Black Myth: Wukong (2024), the studio revealed Black Myth: Zhong Kui (黑神话：钟馗) at Gamescom Opening Night Live—with Geoff Keighley presenting the final reveal of the show—and framed its star as Zhong Kui (钟馗), the “ghost-catching god who wanders between Hell and Earth.” That single line matters, because Zhong Kui’s myth has always lived on a threshold: between 阎王/阎罗王’s underworld courts and ordinary households that paste his image on doors for 镇宅 protection.

As of June 2026, there are no confirmed plot details. Game Science also released a roughly six-minute in-engine Chinese New Year 2026 special that was explicitly labeled non-canon (“for entertainment purposes only”)—so any apparent story beats or character moments from that video are not confirmed as the game’s narrative. What we can do—productively, and in a way that makes your Chinese sharper—is learn the vocabulary and 成语 that naturally belong to Zhong Kui’s world: demon-quelling, talismans, festivals, and the way game announcements travel across the internet.

This piece has one thesis: Zhong Kui’s Chinese is “threshold Chinese.” It’s the language of doors (门神), borders (Hell and Earth), and reputations that travel faster than facts. If you can talk about Zhong Kui, you can talk about folklore, games media, and how culture gets transmitted—承前启后—from Tang-dynasty court dream to modern action-RPG reveal.

You can pair this with:

• Black Myth: Zhong Kui — 10 Chinese Idioms Every Fan Should Know
• 《黑神话：钟馗》背后的真实传说：从唐玄宗梦到捉鬼之神
• Black Myth: Zhong Kui — “Non‑Canon Trailer” Lines & What They Really Mean (with Chengyu)

Starter vocab set: the Zhong Kui “ghost-hunting” kit

Below is a compact set you’ll see in folklore write-ups, museum labels, festival descriptions, and game-news commentary. Each entry includes pinyin and a quick usage note you can steal.

• 钟馗 (Zhōng Kuí) — Zhong Kui.
  Usage: 钟馗 is both a named figure and a shorthand for “exorcistic protection.” Example pattern: 钟馗像 (portrait of Zhong Kui).

• 捉鬼 (zhuō guǐ) — to catch ghosts.
  Usage: A job description. Zhong Kui is famously a 捉鬼之神 (“god of ghost-catching”).

• 驱鬼 (qū guǐ) — to drive away ghosts.
  Usage: More “ritual” than “combat.” Often used with festivals and talismans.

• 镇宅 (zhèn zhái) — to secure/protect a home (from evil).
  Usage: You’ll see 镇宅之宝 (“a treasure that protects the home”) and 镇宅画像 (protective portrait).

• 门神 (mén shén) — door god.
  Usage: Zhong Kui can function as a 门神 figure—his image pasted on doors/gates to guard the threshold.

• 阎王 / 阎罗王 (Yán Wáng / Yánluó Wáng) — King Yama, lord of the underworld.
  Usage: Useful when describing Zhong Kui’s “between Hell and Earth” positioning.

• 妖魔鬼怪 (yāo mó guǐ guài) — demons and monsters of all kinds.
  Usage: A catch-all category for what Zhong Kui subdues; also used metaphorically for “bad actors.”

• 傩 (nuó) — ancient exorcism ritual.
  Usage: Often appears in cultural context: 傩戏 (nuo opera), 傩仪 (nuo rites).

• 跳钟馗 (tiào Zhōng Kuí) — “Leaping/Dancing Zhong Kui” exorcism dance.
  Usage: A living tradition: masked/costumed performance to expel evil and invite blessings.

• 年画 (nián huà) — New Year woodblock prints.
  Usage: Zhong Kui is a classic subject pasted up for New Year protection.

• 端午 (Duānwǔ) / 端午节 (Duānwǔ jié) — Dragon Boat Festival.
  Usage: Zhong Kui images are hung not only at New Year but also at Duanwu, a time associated with disease/pestilence and “evil” influences.

• 五福 (wǔ fú) — the Five Blessings.
  Usage: In auspicious iconography, 五福 often appears via bat imagery.

• 蝙蝠 / 蝠 (biān fú / fú) — bat; 蝠 sounds like 福 (“fortune”).
  Usage: 五蝠 (five bats) can symbolize 五福; Zhong Kui art often uses this pun to turn a fearsome face into an auspicious sign.

Mini reading (myth-style): Zhong Kui on the threshold

Read this short paragraph aloud once for rhythm, then again for meaning. It’s “myth-style” on purpose: it uses the official reveal framing—wandering between Hell and Earth—without inventing any confirmed plot.

他叫钟馗，是人们口中的捉鬼之神。有人说他行走在地狱与人间之间，见到妖魔鬼怪便拔剑追逐，遇到冤屈之事便据理裁断。每逢节日，人们把他的画像贴在门上，当作门神来镇宅；也有人在端午时祈愿驱鬼避凶。传说里，正气一到，邪祟自退。

Quick annotations

• 钟馗: the named guardian figure.
• 捉鬼 / 驱鬼: “catch” vs. “drive away”—action vs. ritual.
• 妖魔鬼怪: a set phrase you can use in reviews, lore threads, or even metaphorical commentary.
• 门神 / 镇宅: household protection logic; Zhong Kui’s image works as a deterrent.
• 端午: festival context; not limited to Lunar New Year.

If you want the deeper folklore behind those lines—Tang Xuanzong (唐玄宗)’s fever dream, Wu Daozi (吴道子) painting the dream image, and why that becomes a talisman tradition—read 《黑神话：钟馗》背后的真实传说：从唐玄宗梦到捉鬼之神.

---

不胫而走 (bù jìng ér zǒu) — “Spread without legs”

Meaning: Something spreads widely and rapidly on its own.

Origin: 不胫而走 is a classic paradox-image: 胫 are the lower legs, yet the news “walks” anyway. Early explanations often point to Han-era discussions of how information moves through informal networks—gossip, travelers, letters, and the sheer human urge to repeat what feels important. The idiom became a durable way to describe circulation that seems almost supernatural: no official courier, no formal channel, yet everyone somehow knows.

Connection: This is the most honest idiom for the modern announcement ecosystem around Black Myth: Zhong Kui. The reveal happened at Gamescom Opening Night Live, presented by Geoff Keighley, and instantly became a topic that traveled across languages and time zones—exactly the kind of “legless walking” the idiom captures. It also fits the project’s current reality: no confirmed plot details means the shape of the conversation is driven less by story facts and more by the single, potent framing line: 钟馗 as a ghost-catching god between Hell and Earth. When concrete narrative is absent, the “headline essence” is what 不胫而走.

Use it: Use 不胫而走 to describe news, trailers, or a reveal clip that spreads organically—especially when the spread outpaces confirmed information. Link: 不胫而走

---

举世瞩目 (jǔ shì zhǔ mù) — “The whole world is watching”

Meaning: Receiving global attention; watched by everyone.

Origin: 举世瞩目 is built from 举世 (“the entire world”) and 瞩目 (“to fix one’s gaze upon”). While it doesn’t have a single neat “one-story” origin like some idioms, it resonates with classical phrasing about being under the gaze of many—language that appears in early historiography and rhetorical prose. The power of the idiom is its scale: it’s not “popular,” it’s “world-watched.”

Connection: Game Science didn’t reveal a small side project in a quiet corner; it chose a stage designed for global eyes: Gamescom ONL, with Keighley as host presenting the final reveal. That choice itself is 举世瞩目 language. And Zhong Kui, culturally, is already a figure who can bear that weight. He’s not an obscure footnote—he’s a cross-media icon found in 年画, opera, and ritual performance like 跳钟馗, and his image tradition was (in the famous origin story) commissioned by a Tang emperor after a dream. When a studio builds a modern action-RPG around a figure whose portrait once circulated as a protective talisman, “global attention” isn’t just marketing—it’s a new chapter in cultural transmission.

Use it: Use 举世瞩目 for major reveals, showcase stages, and moments positioned for international viewing. Link: 举世瞩目

---

乘风破浪 (chéng fēng pò làng) — “Ride the wind, break the waves”

Meaning: To forge ahead boldly through difficulty; to push forward with momentum.

Origin: The idiom’s locus classicus is the Southern-dynasties general Zong Que (宗悫) in the Book of Song (《宋书·宗悫传》): asked about his ambitions as a boy, he answered “愿乘长风破万里浪” (“I wish to ride the long wind and break the ten-thousand-li waves”). Tang poets later amplified the image—Li Bai (李白)’s “长风破浪会有时” is the most famous echo. Even when later writers generalized it beyond seafaring, the image stayed physical: you don’t “wait out” waves; you cut through them. In later literary usage, it became a banner for ambition under pressure.

Connection: Here’s where precision matters. We cannot claim any specific development timeline or internal quote beyond what’s confirmed; we can talk about the strategic posture implied by the reveal framing and the key person named in the brief. Feng Ji (冯骥), as Game Science lead, framed the project as a bold new title after Wukong’s success—not a simple repeat of the previous hero. That is 乘风破浪 energy: using the “wind” of a successful prior game to push into a new mythic protagonist, while accepting the “waves” of expectation that come with attaching the Black Myth brand to another heavyweight figure. Even the choice of Zhong Kui—an ugly, wrathful scholar-turned-deity who judges demons—signals a willingness to steer into darker moral weather rather than stay in safe, familiar waters.

Use it: Use 乘风破浪 when describing a studio pushing forward into a new project under high expectations, without implying a specific release window. Link: 乘风破浪

---

承前启后 (chéng qián qǐ hòu) — “Inherit the past, open the future”

Meaning: To connect tradition with innovation; to carry what came before while starting what comes next.

Origin: 承前启后 gained prominence in Song-era scholarly writing and criticism as a way to praise structures that bridge eras, arguments, or styles. 承 is to receive and bear; 启 is to open and begin. The idiom assumes a living tradition: the past is not a museum object—it’s material you build with.

Connection: Zhong Kui is almost a textbook case of 承前启后 because his “canon” is a chain of re-tellings rather than a single scripture. Consider the famous Tang origin story: Emperor Xuanzong (唐玄宗) dreams of two ghosts; the larger ghost introduces himself as Zhong Kui and vows to rid the realm of demons; the emperor awakes cured; then he orders Wu Daozi (吴道子) to paint Zhong Kui as seen in the dream, and copies are distributed to ward off evil. Whether every historical detail is archaeologically verifiable is less important than what the story explains: how an image becomes a public technology of protection. That technology then flows into 年画 pasted on doors, into 门神 practice, into 端午 pestilence-avoidance customs, into 跳钟馗 performance—each step inheriting and re-opening.

Now place Game Science’s reveal beside that chain. The official framing—a ghost-catching god wandering between Hell and Earth—doesn’t pin down plot, but it does declare continuity with the core function: 捉鬼 / 驱鬼, judging and hunting 妖魔鬼怪. That’s 承前 (inheriting the cultural role) and 启后 (opening a new medium: single-player action-RPG) in one move.

Use it: Use 承前启后 when describing how the Zhong Kui tradition moves from Tang court story → folk practice → modern games, without claiming any unconfirmed narrative details. Link: 承前启后

---

承上启下 (chéng shàng qǐ xià) — “Carry above, open below”

Meaning: To serve as a crucial link between what comes before and what comes after; a bridging role.

Origin: 承上启下 comes out of literary criticism and structural thinking: a middle passage must “receive” what’s above and “open” what’s below. It’s also used for organizations and hierarchies—middle layers translate vision into execution and feedback into strategy.

Connection: Two very different “bridges” define the Black Myth: Zhong Kui moment, and both are worth learning as Chinese.

1. Zhong Kui himself is a bridge figure. The reveal describes him as wandering between Hell and Earth—a literal 承上启下 role. In folklore he serves courts of the underworld (often linked to 阎王/阎罗王 in popular imagination) while protecting human households as 门神 and 镇宅 guardian. He is “above” and “below” at once: cosmic judge and domestic talisman.

2. The non-canon CNY 2026 special is a bridge artifact. It is explicitly labeled non-canon, which means it cannot be treated as plot. But culturally, it still functions as a connector between announcement and eventual game: a piece of in-engine atmosphere that carries the project’s aesthetic “above” (studio intent, mythic tone) and opens “below” (audience expectations, vocabulary, speculation). If you want language for reading those disclaimers carefully, Black Myth: Zhong Kui — “Non‑Canon Trailer” Lines & What They Really Mean (with Chengyu) is built for that exact skill.

Use it: Use 承上启下 for anything that functions as a “connector”: Zhong Kui’s between-world role, or a non-canon teaser bridging a reveal and a future release. Link: 承上启下

---

精益求精 (jīng yì qiú jīng) — “Keep refining the refined”

Meaning: To keep improving; to pursue perfection relentlessly.

Origin: 精益求精 is often explained through craft culture: 精 (refined/excellent) → 益 (to make even better) → 求精 (to seek further refinement). While later eras popularized the phrase as a general virtue, it reflects a deep Chinese respect for workmanship—seen in classical discussions of artisans, in Song technological confidence, and in the broader ideal that excellence is not a finish line but a habit.

Connection: With Black Myth: Zhong Kui, the key discipline is not pretending we know what we don’t. 精益求精 applies to how you talk about the game without smuggling in false certainty. Here are three “refinement moves” that mirror the idiom’s logic:

• Refine your plot language: The only safe statement is: no confirmed plot details. The reveal frames Zhong Kui as a ghost-catching god between Hell and Earth—stop there.
• Refine your trailer reading: The Chinese New Year 2026 in-engine special is explicitly non-canon. Treat it as visual direction, not story confirmation.
• Refine your cultural claims: When you discuss Wu Daozi painting Zhong Kui, note that the attribution is traditional and the original is lost—still culturally meaningful, but not a museum-proof artifact.

That style of disciplined speech is 精益求精 in practice: you’re improving the accuracy of your Chinese commentary, not just the elegance.

Use it: Use 精益求精 to praise careful craft—of development, writing, or even fact-checking—without implying specific production details you can’t verify. Link: 精益求精

---

呕心沥血 (ǒu xīn lì xuè) — “Pour out heart and blood”

Meaning: To devote one’s utmost effort and emotion; labor with intense dedication.

Origin: 呕心沥血 is one of Chinese’s most visceral idioms. It appears in Tang literary criticism and writing culture as a way to describe creation that costs the creator something internal—not merely time, but spirit. Later readers often connect the idiom’s emotional truth to the essays of Han Yu (韩愈) and the Tang-Song tradition of treating writing as moral and psychological exertion. Even when used outside literature, it keeps that sense: the work is paid for with the self.

Connection: Zhong Kui’s myth is powered by a kind of moral overexertion. In the popular core legend, he is a brilliant scholar associated with 终南山 (Mount Zhongnan) who wins the highest examination rank—状元—yet is stripped of it because the emperor judges him by appearance. The resulting injustice drives him to smash his head against the palace steps (or gate) and die. After death, he becomes an arbiter and exterminator of evil spirits—an underworld-appointed hunter of demons.

That arc is 呕心沥血 in mythic form: a life spent pursuing recognition through 科举, a death born of humiliation, and then an afterlife defined by relentless demon-quelling duty. It also gives you a powerful way to talk about the emotional temperature Game Science is invoking by choosing Zhong Kui as a protagonist figure: not “cute folklore,” but wrathful justice, shame, and the refusal to let the world’s ugliness have the last word.

Use it: Use 呕心沥血 when describing work (or vows) that demand emotional and moral expenditure—Zhong Kui’s posthumous duty is a clean, lore-faithful example. Link: 呕心沥血

---

持之以恒 (chí zhī yǐ héng) — “Persist with constancy”

Meaning: To persevere steadily over time; to keep at something with long-term dedication.

Origin: 持之以恒 is closely tied in modern educational culture to Qing statesman Zeng Guofan (曾国藩), who emphasized disciplined daily practice and urged his children to correct weaknesses through consistent effort. The idiom’s structure is plain but strong: 持 (to hold) + 之 (it) + 以恒 (with constancy). It praises the unglamorous middle: the days when nothing “goes viral,” yet the work continues.

Connection: This idiom fits Black Myth: Zhong Kui on two levels that stay within confirmed ground.

First, it fits how you should relate to the project as news. As of June 2026, no release date/window has been announced and no confirmed plot details exist. The CNY 2026 in-engine special is non-canon, so it’s not a plot roadmap. That means the healthiest fan literacy is 持之以恒: follow official updates steadily, resist filling gaps with invented certainty, and treat each new confirmed detail as a step—not a finish line.

Second, it fits Zhong Kui’s cultural life. His image persists across centuries precisely because it is repeated: pasted as 年画, invoked as 门神, performed as 跳钟馗 in 傩 contexts, hung at 端午 to drive off sickness and evil. That’s cultural 持之以恒: the same protective logic renewed each year at the threshold of the home.

Use it: Use 持之以恒 for long-term following, long-term making, and long-term cultural practice—especially when timelines are unknown and patience is the only accurate stance. Link: 持之以恒

---

Practice: 8 fill-in-the-blank sentences (headline + folklore style)

Fill each blank with one item from the vocab/idioms you learned. Some blanks have multiple reasonable answers; pick the one that best fits the register.

1. 【Game news】在 Gamescom Opening Night Live 上，主持人 Geoff Keighley 介绍《黑神话：钟馗》，消息很快就 ________。
   (Answer idea: 不胫而走)

2. 【Game news】这次公开让《黑神话：钟馗》成为 ________ 的焦点之一。
   (Answer idea: 举世瞩目)

3. 【Series positioning】冯骥把新作定位为在《黑神话：悟空》成功之后的大胆新标题，团队继续 ________。
   (Answer idea: 乘风破浪)

4. 【Culture】从唐代传说到年画、戏曲与当代游戏，钟馗形象真正做到了 ________。
   (Answer idea: 承前启后)

5. 【Folklore premise】官方描述钟馗是“游走在地狱与人间之间”的捉鬼之神，这个设定非常 ________。
   (Answer idea: 承上启下)

6. 【Home protection】很多人把钟馗画像贴在门上，当作 ________，用来 ________。
   (Answer ideas: 门神 / 镇宅)

7. 【Festival】除了春节，民间也会在 ________ 悬挂或使用驱邪图像，祈愿 ________。
   (Answer ideas: 端午 / 驱鬼)

8. 【Myth tone】钟馗从科举传说到捉鬼之神的转变，带着一种“把一生的力气都用在正义上”的感觉，可用 ________ 来形容；而面对长期等待官方信息，则需要 ________。
   (Answer ideas: 呕心沥血 / 持之以恒)