Chinese Game Background Glossary
77 terms · seven clusters · global-server edition
Every term here is a general cultural concept — the kind of word that gets reused across dozens of games. Each entry gives the actual meaning, the Western misreading to drop, and how the idea usually shows up in play. Proper nouns that belong to one game live on that game's own site.
Seven clusters, 77 entries. Read the cluster that matches the question in front of you; the cross-links inside each page cover the overlaps.
- Diyuunderworld court and prison system
- Yanluoone judge among ten courts
- Jade Emperorchief celestial administrator
- Yaoa being that has transformed
- Guaianomalous shape, not evil intent
- Jingspirit or essence of a thing
- Moobstruction to cultivation
- Shenlongdragon holding a weather post
- Qilinauspicious beast tied to virtue
- Nianthe beast the New Year drives off
- Meng Poserves the soup of forgetting
- Lunhuirebirth according to a record
- Qibreath refined by practice
- Dantianwhere refined breath is stored
- Jingmaithe channels that carry qi
- Linggeninborn affinity for cultivation
- Jindanqi condensed into a core
- Dujiethe trial at a breakthrough
- Zongmena sect with doctrine and land
- Fabaoa bound, often sentient artifact
- Zhujiqi compressed into a stable base
- Yuanyinga refined soul that can leave the body
- Zouhuo rumopractice reversing on the body
- Fulua written command to a spirit
- Lingshispirit stones as money and fuel
- Danyaograded pills for breakthroughs
- Feishengthe final ascent out of the world
- Jianghuthe world outside official authority
- Wulinthe whole martial fraternity
- Xiathe wanderer bound by a code
- Shifuthe teacher who transmits a lineage
- Zhanglaoa senior seat on a council
- Neigonginternal practice and breathing
- Neilithe reserve that practice builds
- Qinggongweight control in movement
- Anqiconcealed throwing weapons
- Zhenqirefined qi, the trained version
- Dianxuestriking points to disable a body
- Menpaia lineage with doctrine and techniques
- Biaojuarmed protection for hired cargo
- 666“that was clean” — praise
- cpddlooking for a game partner
- laoliuthe evasive, camping player
- pofangcomposure breaks mid-match
- hongwenvisibly heated, face hot
- jiku“you're already crying”
- wsl“I'm dead”
- zqsgreal feelings, said sincerely
- Dalaobig shot, veteran, carry
- Mengxinnewbie, self-deprecating
- Kaiheiqueue together for a session
- Waiguacheat software, an accusation
- Niumathe player who does the grinding
- Neijuancompetition that buys nothing
- Zhenghuoa stunt staged for the chat
- Bailandeliberately not trying
- Chouxiangbehaviour that stops making sense
Often confused
Five pairs worth separatingYao answers “what is it?” — a being that transformed from an animal, plant or object. Mo answers “what is happening to it?” — a state of obstruction or corruption, usually inside a practitioner. A yao can be born; a mo is acquired.
Rule: if the word describes a creature, it is yao. If it describes a condition, it is mo.
Neili is the reserve — how much you have stored. Zhenqi is the substance — how refined that reserve is. Two characters can hold the same neili with very different zhenqi, which is why the older master wins without a bigger bar.
Rule: neili is capacity; zhenqi is grade. Games that show both are modelling quantity and quality separately.
Menpai is a teaching lineage: a style, a founder, a set of techniques you join to learn. Zongmen is an institution: land, ranks, resources, rules and a hierarchy that assigns tasks. Many games translate both as “sect”, which hides the difference.
Rule: if it owns a mountain and gives you orders, it is a zongmen. If it only teaches a technique, it is a menpai.
Wulin is the people — the whole martial fraternity of schools, wanderers and fighters. Jianghu is the space they operate in: the world outside official authority, with its own rules and debts. Wulin is a population; jianghu is its territory.
Rule: you meet people in the wulin; you get into trouble in the jianghu.
Baodi guarantees that a rare eventually arrives within a set number of pulls. Jing guarantees the specific featured unit, by letting you buy it with a fixed number of pulls. One protects rarity; the other protects identity.
Rule: baodi answers “will I get something?” Jing answers “will I get this one?”