Chinese Mythology- Ne Zha
In case you forgot, thereās a little (well, not-so-little) country in between Russia, India and the sea near Australia called China. Sheās pretty well-known for being big, red, and old.Ā
As well as other things, but thatās all pretty new and not what weāre talking about here, I draw the line at those topics.
China is like the grandma of most Asian countries within the Sinosphere (area of influence that spread Chinese culture through the Silk Road, Tang dynasty diplomats and ideologies like Confucianism and Taoism and occasionally Buddhism).
As such, Chinese mythology and lifestyle practices are very deeply rooted in cultural beliefs across Asian countries like Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam.Ā
This isnāt a post about the history of China. Well, it is, but the history of China is some 10,000 years of culture and 4000 years of recorded history, and I have neither the time nor the patience to go through all of it. To be quite honest, about 70% of it is irrelevant to even the lives of Chinese people.
What Iād like to talk about, instead, is some Chinese culture and mythology.
Many of you might have heard of the Journey to the West, or more specifically the Monkey King Sun Wukong. Undoubtedly heās probably the number one IT boy in China, our biggest cultural icon and representative myth, and his name is synonymous with power, defiance, and badassery.Ā
You may have seen him featured in the recent hit game, Black Myth: Wukong!
Much of Wukongās story involves his various shenanigans in his attempt to go to the West and retrieve Buddhist sutras with the monk Xuanzang and several other eclectic and iconic characters. However, Wukongās history is not as well-known. In fact, much of his early days were spent in constant battle with the Heavenly Court.
That is what I want to talk about: the Heavenly Court. Essentially Chinaās pantheon. Wukong is so well-known that I feel itās unnecessary for me to add any more commentary beyond woah, he is so cool, and other people probably have made enough content about him that anything I could add would be ē»čę·»č¶³ or paint feet on a snake (a Chinese idiom that means to stop adding useless details that donāt make any sense or serve any purpose).
China, beyond just Wukong, has an enormous selection of mythology involving gods, spirits and immortals as well as their battles against demons and monsters. These stories arenāt as well-known outside China but also feature prominently in what makes up the Chinese mindset. Having said that, hereās my attempt to inspire someone to make a Dragon Ball equivalent that doesnāt feature Wukong.Ā
I figured now would be as good a time as any to start with åŖåäøå¤Ŗåļ¼or the Third Prince Ne Zha, since recently the Ne Zha 2 has smashed some records and brought the myth of Ne Zha into more prominence.
By the way, go watch this movie! I'll gush about this later, but it's super good.
As with most everything in Chinese history and mythology: overly-long exposition and background is always needed. In the 16th century, two dudes got together and decided to record the fall of the Shang Dynasty and the rise of the Zhou Dynasty in a novel. Being dramatic, they romanticized the historical tale and added a lot of pizzazz, including spirits, monsters, and gods. This tale is now referred to as å°ē„ę¼ä¹,or å°ē„ę¦: The Romance of the Inauguration of the Gods, or more commonly translated as Investiture of the Gods.Ā
This story serves as the basis for much of Chinese mythology and storytelling. Think of the Iliad or the Odyssey.
Ne Zha is a character in Investiture of the Gods. Heās not a key character in the main plot, which centers around King Zhou of Shang (who ironically rules over the Shang Dynasty and not the Zhou Dynasty, which uses a different Zhou pronounced differently in Chinese). However, heās probably more famous than King Zhou is, just because heās so fun, and also heās featured very prominently in many of the stories we tell kids.Ā
According to the Investiture of the Gods, Ne Zha was born during the Shang Dynasty under the rule of King Zhou. He eventually becomes part of the rebel faction that overthrows King Zhou of Shang and establishes the Zhou Dynasty. For now, though, he is just a kid. His homeland is called Chentang Pass.
In fact, Ne Zha was born with hacks. Heās the incarnation of the ēµē å, or the Spiritual Pearl, a ball of condensed spiritual energy. As such, heās pretty OP from birth.
He has two older brothers who are already immortals, called Jin Zha (which means Goldā¦ Zha) and Mu Zha (which means Wood Zha) and his parents wanted five sons named Gold, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth, representing the five elements, with Zha as a suffix.
However, in popular culture, itās known that Ne Zha, originally Fire, absorbed his brothers Water and Earth in the womb. Because of this, his mother, Lady Yin, is pregnant with him for over three years- which really sucks. When heās born, he manifests as what looks like a big meatball.Ā
His father, Li Jing, whoās a very high-ranking military general, freaks out and tries to stab him, but he pops out of the meatball as a fully-formed child, and is bestowed the name Ne Zha, literally: That Zha, since heās three Zha-s in one. Kind of funny.Ā
Ne Zha, since heās OP, could talk and walk from birth and skipped the baby stage and went right to infant. He was taken as the disciple of å¤Ŗä¹ēäŗŗ, or Realized One of Yin and Yang. Weāll call him Master Taiyi for simplicity. He gets two cool weapons: ę··å¤©ē»«, the Skyblinding Sash, or a sentient moving red ribbon similar to Doctor Strangeās red cape, and ä¹¾å¤å, the Ring of Heaven and Earth, a gold size-changing ring.Ā
Ne Zha is still a human kid, despite being super OP, so when heās little he asks his mom if he can go out of Chentang Pass to play. Sheās like, sure! Whatās the worst that can happen!
Ne Zha wanders for a bit, then decides to take a bath in a river and uses the Skyblinding Sash as a towel. Basically the equivalent of using a tactical nuke to squish an ant. This powerful weapon being used as a towel sends so much energy through the stream that it literally reaches all the way to the East China Sea.
The Dragon King of the East China Sea is called Ao Guang, and heās also got three sons. In the most well-known Ne Zha movie from 1979, he looks like this:
Ao Guang is like, what the fuck? He sends a yaksha, a mischievous water spirit, to check things out (no, not the yaksha you're thinking of.)
Ne Zha basically makes the ancient Chinese equivalent of a your mom joke to the yaksha, who gets super offended and tries to fight him. Then the yaksha gets his ass thoroughly kicked by a seven-year-old, who uses the Ring of Heaven and Earth to basically bash his head in. Yikes.
Ao Guangās soldiers report this to him, and heās very troubled by his lackeyās violent end at the hands of Chinaās worst iPad kid. Ao Bing, who is Ao Guangās third son, volunteers to go beat up this seven-year-old kid, and is like, Iām the mighty third dragon prince of the East China Sea, thereās no way this toddler can beat me!
Not only does Ne Zha beat Ao Bing, he beats him so badly that he ends up pulling Ao Bingās tendons out to make a belt for his dad Li Jing. Ao Bing probably died a staunch advocate for birth control. Ne Zha maybe needs some therapy.
Regardless, when Ao Guang hears his precious baby son has been killed rather painfully, he freaks out and goes to complain to Li Jing. Ne Zha is like, oops I killed your son, he was weak anyway, maybe you should train your next kid to be less pathetic, and Ao Guang is like you son of a bitch Iām reporting you to the Jade Emperor!
The Jade Emperor, by the way, is the leader of the Heavenly Court. In Chinese mythology, unlike many religions, being a god doesnāt necessarily mean youāre a good or virtuous person, it just means you got a promotion. Essentially itās like being a government worker.Ā
There is sometimes discussion on whether the Emperor in the myth is the Heavenly Emperor or the Jade Emperor. They're usually considered different people, with the Jade Emperor being an underling of the Heavenly Emperor, but the exact details get foggy. For the purposes of storytelling, I will assume the Emperor in this story is the Jade Emperor.
Ne Zha says, oh shit what do I do, and goes to his Master Taiyi for help. With an invisibility spell Master Taiyi gave him, he goes to Ao Guangās house and kicks his ass.
Ao Guang, feeling thoroughly wronged, gathers the other three dragon kings of the North, South and West China Seas respectively and decides theyāre going to sue Ne Zha and his family in front of the Jade Emperor.Ā
Lady Yin, Ne Zhaās mom, tells him to chill the fuck out and sits him in their houseās backyard. Ne Zha, thoroughly bored, decides heās going to do some archery practice with some fancy bows and arrows, which are all inscribed with their family name.
He uses the literal Emperorās bow and arrow, which were stored there for safekeeping and were unliftable like Thorās hammer or Excalibur, and casually shoots an arrow up into a cave and kills the disciple of a lady named ē³ē¶åØåØ Lady Stone Spirit.
Lady Stone Spirit kidnaps Ne Zhaās dad after recognising the name on the arrow, and Li Jing is like, yo Iām nowhere strong enough to use that bow and arrow, let me go back home so I can find the true culprit.
Eventually they find out itās Ne Zha, and Ne Zha flips on Lady Stone Spirit. Master Taiyi eventually kills Lady Stone Spirit for him after Ne Zha loses his weapons.Ā
Master Taiyi then says, oops, remember Ao Guang, that dragon king you pissed off? Well, heās back and heās pissed, and heās got the Jade Emperor on his side. Ao Guang vows heāll take revenge for his son and his dignity on Chentang Pass and Ne Zhaās parents.
Li Jing, whoās a bit of a dick father, is royally pissed off at Ne Zha. Heās always been very strict on Ne Zha, and has never liked him much, and basically tells Ne Zha to go fuck himself. Ne Zha, whoās mischievous but responsible, decides heās going to save his family.
In quite possibly the most gruesome childrenās tale youāve ever heard, in order to pay his parents back for birthing him, he cuts all the flesh off his own bones and then cuts his own bones up as penance and to satisfy the dragon kingās wrath. Metal.
Excuse this blurry image- it's hard to find the exact scene in 4k.
Ne Zhaās wandering spirit tells his grieving mother to build him a temple and try to get him a new body, so she does. The temple goes viral, and Li Jing finds out and smashes everything. Ne Zha is like, what the fuck was that for? Now father and son properly hate each other.
Master Taiyi, this storyās MVP, builds Ne Zha a new body out of lotus roots, and he is reborn in a lotus flower. Thatās why heās sometimes called Ne Zha the lotus prince, and why heās commonly associated with lotus flowers and lotus roots.
Master Taiyi gives him two new weapons: the ē«å°ęŖ, Fire-tipped Spear, a spear that shoots fire, and the é£ē«č½®: Wheels of Wind and Fire, which are basically flying roller skates in the shape of two gold wheels.
Look at that, so fashionable.
Ne Zha tries to go and beat up his asshole father, and Li Jing quickly realises heās about to get his ass kicked by his pissed-off deified son. Remember when I said Ne Zha absorbed his brothers Water and Fire in the womb?
Because of this, he can now manifest four more arms and two more heads whenever he wants to become äø夓å
čåŖå, Ne Zha of Three Heads and Six Arms. Sick.
The Jade Emperor decides enough is enough after seeing Ne Zha beat his dad up a million times. He goes to the Buddha for help, and the Buddha gives Li Jing a mini pagoda which can trap any demon, monster or spirit within it. Li Jing becomes a deity referred to as the Pagoda-Bearing Lord, and Ne Zha is forced to chill out on the patricide.
This is how the tale is known in popular culture, mostly because of a 1979 movie, produced by Shanghai Animation, which changed the original tale quite a bit. I've been using many images from the 1979 Ne Zha.
Movie name: Ne Zha Conquers the Sea, otherwise known as Murder Toddler Terrorizes Local Aquatic Ecosystem
For one, in the movie, Ao Guang and Ao Bing are evil oppressors who eat the children of Chentang Pass. Additionally, details are known differently across different iterations of the myth. For example, in Journey to the West, Ne Zha gets his name because itās literally written on his hands when heās born.
Since Ne Zha flies around so quickly on his Wheels of Wind and Fire roller skates, people sometimes see him as a patron deity of racing. If they ever make another Fast and Furious they should give him a cameo.
He is so famous that heās had like a billion animated movies, stage plays and childrenās books written about him. Traditionally, heās depicted as a kid about seven to ten years old, on his roller skate wheels, holding his staff, with his ring turned into a gold bracelet he wears on his wrist and his red sash flying behind him. He has quite the iconic hairstyle: two space buns!
Heās such an iconic figure in Chinese culture: recent media has included him in many iterations.
Gaming fans will recognise him from Black Myth: Wukong as the aura-farming red fire dude with sick eyeliner and space buns.
I am not gonna lie this is probably the coolest design of Ne Zha I've ever seen.
The most iconic version of him is probably the 1979 version, though the recent Ne Zha movies from 2019 and 2025 are arguably just as popular now.
There was a 2021 movie called New Gods: Nezha Reborn that is a separate adaptation from Ne Zha 2019 and Ne Zha 2 2025, which was kind of a mid movie but worth a watch.Ā
Several of the adaptations of Ne Zha that have become iconic:
Ne Zha 2019 ^ in his child form
Ne Zha from Fei Ren Zai (éäŗŗå), a comedy series about mythological characters in modern China ^
The Legend of Ne Zha from 2003, a children's TV series ^
Child and Adult (reincarnated in modern world) versions of Ne Zha in 2021 New Gods Reborn: Ne Zha ^
Sometimes though heās depicted as a teenager. All in all, since he died young, heās generally never seen as an adult. Occasionally youāll see him described as male body with a female face, basically meaning heās super cute. Note that this doesnāt mean transgender or nonbinary as itās often known in English, which was not a concept in ancient China.Ā
Oftentimes the media involving him will include jokes of him being mistaken for a girl because heās a kid with a pretty face.
Eventually Ne Zha becomes an official of the Heavenly Court, a marshall in the army. As I mentioned, he fights for the eventual King Wu of Zhou who overthrows King Zhou of Shang and creates the Zhou dynasty, making him a good guy despite hisā¦ concerning childhood.Ā
Writing the entire myth out in English makes Ne Zha seem like a psychopath from birth, but his story is honestly more about a kid causing shenanigans and being forced to pay for it tragically. Heās really quite a victim, if you can believe it. Imagine a toddler born with Hulk-strength who accidentally smashes a few vases and is beaten for it.
Ne Zha 2019 was super popular, and without spoiling too much, Ao Bing became a super polite and likeable young master instead of the classic villain character he is, and aside from being HOT, he and Ne Zha became friends instead of plucking tendons. No tendon-plucking involved. They also change Ne Zhaās story quite a bit, but not enough that he becomes unrecognisable.
Ne Zha 2019 promotional poster ^
This is Ao Bing (the third dragon prince) in the 1979 movie as a villain.
In contrast, this is Ao Bing from Ne Zha 2019 and 2025. Quite the difference, right?
Adult Ne Zha from the Ne Zha 2019 movie
Ne Zha 2, released in 2025 and currently still airing, is now the eighth-highest grossing movie of all time and Chinaās biggest-ever film. Itās genuinely quite an incredible film, and is worthy of being the biggest animated movie of all time.
I recommend everyone go watch it even if you donāt know Chinese: itās super funny and the visuals are astounding. Obviously itās not perfect, and there are a lot of problems with it, but I donāt know, Iām still a big fan. For being made on such a small budget, it somehow manages to outdo Hollywood animation on sheer spectacle. If you can get IMAX tickets, get them!
If there is no other reason, watch the movie for Ao Guang, Ao Bing's dad. Remember the fugly old dragon from the 1979 version?
Well, this is him now. Talk about a glow-up. No joke, when he appeared on screen the entire movie theatre gasped out loud.
By the way, if you were wondering where Ne Zha falls on the timeline in relation to our friend Wukong, Ne Zha was born several thousand years before Wukong burst out of his rock. As such, when Wukong encounters him and *ahem* kicks his ass *ahem*, Ne Zha is already a deity working for the Heavenly Court.Ā
I hope after reading this incredibly-long post, you learned something new about Chinese culture and our favourite lotus root, Ne Zha!
