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I'm a bit sleep deprived. It's 3am. I need to study. But my brain thought of adventure time for just a few seconds and I was immediately like:

"study later and draw Nezha & Ao Bing in Adventure Time art style first"

But for real, I think they look really cute 😊🫣🪷

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It was just a passing thought, and then my hand and pen said, 'Bet. Now look.'

I really like drawing 1979 Ao Bing's red hair 🤭

Also, i realized i need to learn how to render clothes 🥹

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Love reading this 🫶✨️🪷 informative and entertaining

"Murder Toddler Terrorizes Local Aquatic Ecosystem" and "Ao Bing dying a staunch advocate for birth control" had me dying 🤧🤭

Chinese Mythology- Ne Zha

In case you forgot, there’s a little (well, not-so-little) country in between Russia, India and the sea near Australia called China. She’s pretty well-known for being big, red, and old. 

As well as other things, but that’s all pretty new and not what we’re 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. 

This isn’t 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 I’d 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 he’s 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. 

You may have seen him featured in the recent hit game, Black Myth: Wukong!

Much of Wukong’s 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, Wukong’s 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 China’s pantheon. Wukong is so well-known that I feel it’s 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 画蛇添足 or paint feet on a snake (a Chinese idiom that means to stop adding useless details that don’t make any sense or serve any purpose).

Regardless.

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 aren’t as well-known outside China but also feature prominently in what makes up the Chinese mindset. Having said that, here’s my attempt to inspire someone to make a Dragon Ball equivalent that doesn’t feature Wukong. 

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I figured now would be as good a time as any to start with 哪吒三太子，or 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 封神演义,or 封神榜: The Romance of the Inauguration of the Gods, or more commonly translated as Investiture of the Gods. 

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. He’s 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, he’s probably more famous than King Zhou is, just because he’s so fun, and also he’s featured very prominently in many of the stories we tell kids. 

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. He’s the incarnation of the 灵珠子, or the Spiritual Pearl, a ball of condensed spiritual energy. As such, he’s pretty OP from birth.

He has two older brothers who are already immortals, called Jin Zha (which means Gold… 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, it’s 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 he’s born, he manifests as what looks like a big meatball. 

His father, Li Jing, who’s 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 he’s three Zha-s in one. Kind of funny. 

Ne Zha, since he’s OP, could talk and walk from birth and skipped the baby stage and went right to infant. He was taken as the disciple of 太乙真人, or Realized One of Yin and Yang. We’ll call him Master Taiyi for simplicity. He gets two cool weapons: 混天绫, the Skyblinding Sash, or a sentient moving red ribbon similar to Doctor Strange’s red cape, and 乾坤圈, the Ring of Heaven and Earth, a gold size-changing ring. 

Ne Zha is still a human kid, despite being super OP, so when he’s little he asks his mom if he can go out of Chentang Pass to play. She’s like, sure! What’s the worst that can happen!

Oh boy.

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 he’s 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 Guang’s soldiers report this to him, and he’s very troubled by his lackey’s violent end at the hands of China’s worst iPad kid. Ao Bing, who is Ao Guang’s third son, volunteers to go beat up this seven-year-old kid, and is like, I’m the mighty third dragon prince of the East China Sea, there’s 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 Bing’s 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 I’m 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 doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a good or virtuous person, it just means you got a promotion. Essentially it’s like being a government worker. 

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 Guang’s 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 they’re going to sue Ne Zha and his family in front of the Jade Emperor. 

Lady Yin, Ne Zha’s mom, tells him to chill the fuck out and sits him in their house’s backyard. Ne Zha, thoroughly bored, decides he’s going to do some archery practice with some fancy bows and arrows, which are all inscribed with their family name.

He uses the literal Emperor’s bow and arrow, which were stored there for safekeeping and were unliftable like Thor’s hammer or Excalibur, and casually shoots an arrow up into a cave and kills the disciple of a lady named 石矶娘娘 Lady Stone Spirit.

Lady Stone Spirit kidnaps Ne Zha’s dad after recognising the name on the arrow, and Li Jing is like, yo I’m 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 it’s 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. 

Master Taiyi then says, oops, remember Ao Guang, that dragon king you pissed off? Well, he’s back and he’s pissed, and he’s got the Jade Emperor on his side. Ao Guang vows he’ll take revenge for his son and his dignity on Chentang Pass and Ne Zha’s parents.

Li Jing, who’s a bit of a dick father, is royally pissed off at Ne Zha. He’s always been very strict on Ne Zha, and has never liked him much, and basically tells Ne Zha to go fuck himself. Ne Zha, who’s mischievous but responsible, decides he’s going to save his family.

In quite possibly the most gruesome children’s tale you’ve 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 king’s wrath. Metal.

Excuse this blurry image- it's hard to find the exact scene in 4k.

Ne Zha’s 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 story’s MVP, builds Ne Zha a new body out of lotus roots, and he is reborn in a lotus flower. That’s why he’s sometimes called Ne Zha the lotus prince, and why he’s commonly associated with lotus flowers and lotus roots.

Master Taiyi gives him two new weapons: the 火尖枪, Fire-tipped Spear, a spear that shoots fire, and the 风火轮: 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 he’s 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 三头六臂哪吒, 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 it’s literally written on his hands when he’s 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 he’s had like a billion animated movies, stage plays and children’s books written about him. Traditionally, he’s 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!

He’s 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. 

Several of the adaptations of Ne Zha that have become iconic:

Ne Zha 2019 ^ in his child form

Ne Zha from Fei Ren Zai (非人哉), 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 he’s depicted as a teenager. All in all, since he died young, he’s generally never seen as an adult. Occasionally you’ll see him described as male body with a female face, basically meaning he’s super cute. Note that this doesn’t mean transgender or nonbinary as it’s often known in English, which was not a concept in ancient China. 

Oftentimes the media involving him will include jokes of him being mistaken for a girl because he’s 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 his… concerning childhood. 

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. He’s 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 Zha’s 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 China’s biggest-ever film. It’s 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 don’t know Chinese: it’s super funny and the visuals are astounding. Obviously it’s not perfect, and there are a lot of problems with it, but I don’t know, I’m 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. 

I hope after reading this incredibly-long post, you learned something new about Chinese culture and our favourite lotus root, Ne Zha!

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The way I'd be shaking out of nervousness but also absolute excitement at being able to do some infodumping about Ne Zha to anyone who is interested in listening 🤧🥹🥺

My AP World teacher was going over Cultural Imperialism and he made a point about how MOST of the highest grossing movies are American

AND THEN HE POINTED OUT NEZHA 2 and how it was the first non American film on the list since he’d been teaching. And afterwards I got to infodump about it to him and he said it sounded good and that he’ll need to check it out. And he was such a good sport listening to my insane rambling about how it was also the highest grossing animated movie (and also the first to break $2 billion) and also the highest grossing film in a single market

That was like 10 minutes ago and I’m still like shaking with joy/adrenaline- (I like this movie a normal amount I promise/j)

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2003 Ao Bing and Nezha!

Haven't watched the whole thing yet – no English subs on YouTube, sadly 🥲 But from what I've seen, 2003 Ao Bing was kinda serving cuteness and big diva energy ✨🤭

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OHHHMYYYGOSSHHHH!! WHAT?! THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!! 💘🪷 IM CRYING AND SMILING SO MUCH 🥺🤧☺️🥹🫶😭 MY EYES FEEL SO BLESSED! A THOUSAND—NO, A MILLION KUDOS, HEARTS, LIKES ETC. TO YOU!!! EVERYTIME I NEED INSPIRATION TO DRAW I WILL LOOK AT THIS ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE 😭🫶 UR SO TALENTED! 🫶🪷✨️ I WANT TO SAY MORE THINGS BUT I DIDNT WANT TO MAKE THIS TOO LONG! REBLOGGING IT SO IT COULD REACH MORE EYES TO BLESS ✨️🥹

This is like, what happened in the end of the second movie, right?

(Still a WIP technically but shhhh let me have this, these two put me through the RINGER)

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A blast from the past! Bringing you my take on drawing 1979 Nezha and Ao Bing 🫣

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🤭🤣

Gently placing this here and scurrying away

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It's been a while but here's some human Radioapple for ya'll 📻🍎

Question: how to render hair 🥹 because i cannot for the life of me render hair at all 🤧

Still trying to find my digital artstyle 🫣

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That look held the weight of a heart on the precipice of a beautiful fall...falling into love. 🪷

I had to draw this scene because it keeps repeating in my head 🫣🤭

No one can convince me otherwise, that look? Those are the eyes of someone falling in love, plain and simple.

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Love this analysis so much 🫶 the writers really locked in on this one, they really wrote these two to embody yin and yang not just simply on a surface level 🥹 the level of detail i just 🤧🤧🤧

Something that I was talking about with a friend another day was how Nezha defies social rules, but AoBing defies social roles.

NeZha obviously breaks social rules, with his constant casual manners and he doesn’t seem to be courteous at all. However, from my perspective as a western audience, I felt like NeZha’s fear of showing weakness is indicative of his relationship with his own identity of being a boy, or being masculine. The way that he was afraid to show affection for his mother at the beginning of NeZha 2 because he’s embarrassed by what onlookers might think might also stem from his want to appear strong. He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood in while flying to Lady ShiJi’s mountain because he was so hurt by the destruction he saw in Chengtang Pass that he masks it with anger.

AoBing on the other hand adheres to social rules, and he’s known for being a gentle, well-mannered figure who’s much more respectful compared to NeZha. However, something I’d like to mention is that he doesn’t care as much to present himself as strong or masculine as NeZha does, and he expresses his moments of weakness much more honestly than NeZha. He’s not afraid to cry, and he willingly expresses his love to his father, in comparison to how NeZha tries to act tough all the time, even around his own parents at the beginning of the film.

Whenever I read fanfiction of them, I usually like when they’re written with this contrast: where NeZha might be egotistical, he’s actually quite insecure in himself, and where AoBing seems more gentle and humble, he’s actually more confident in his own identity. Just because AoBing seems less masculine compared to NeZha, does not actually make him more meek or unconfident.

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My other hobbies include breathing and rewatching this 🫣 over and over again ☺️

Oubing animatic WIP update‼️‼️

Istg my WiFi is so bad if this doesn't send I'll-

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🥺🪷🫶 peak ending scene 🤧 will add this ending line to my collection of calligraphies 🥹

Translating the last line of Ne Zha 2 (2025)

When Ao Bing asks Ne Zha how he knew he'd come back, Ne Zha says something that I think might be the perfect ending line.

因为我们都太年轻，不知天高地厚

Yin wei wo men dou tai nian qing, bu zhi tian gao di hou

I think the theatre I watched translated this as "Because we're both too young. Too young to fear."

Honestly, this translation is pretty good! It's touching and impactful.

Bu zhi tian gao di hou, 不知天高地厚, is a saying that is used to refer to someone that is arrogant or foolish and doesn't understand the power or cruelty of the world.

It means: To know not how high the heavens stretch, nor how deep the earth goes.

Usually it is used to admonish someone, usually an elder scolding someone younger that they're overly confident or idealistic, and don't know anything about the realities of what's out there.

Ne Zha and Ao Bing have both technically lived thousands of years. They were originally the Chaos Pearl, so they've witnessed a lot. They do, in fact, know how unfair the world is, and have seen the heavens and the earth.

However, since their bodies and minds are still young, it's especially impactful for Ne Zha to say this to refer to himself and Ao Bing. Essentially, he is saying that despite them both understanding the cruelty and unfairness of the world, they still choose to be young and foolish.

It's not that they're arrogant and overconfident. It's that they understand they have little chance, but they must fight anyway. They are choosing to be young and wild, choosing their three year old naïveté over their thousands of years as the Chaos Pearl.

IDK, it really got to me.

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Ao Bing and Ne Zha practice sketch

trying to find my artstyle so I can draw more of them 🪷

Also, I have a question to Oubing shippers out there. Why is the ship name Oubing? And what does Oubing mean? I just started being a fan and shipper last week so I am still a bit uncultured 🥲 Am I even spelling it right? I am curious since I really want to know and understand everything there is to it. I tried searching it on Google but it didn't really answer my question. 🤧

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The artwork is just 🫶🤧🥹☺️ every scene evokes a different kind of emotion 🤧🪷 i still laugh and cry no matter how many times i rewatch it 👀

Nezha 2 Ending Credits - 就是哪吒 (x)

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a digital redraw of this gravity is natural meme I did last year

Looking at this side by side made me notice the differences of how I used to draw them back then versus how I draw them now 👀

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🫣🤭☺️😊🪷

This total shoujo moment of Ao Bing falling in love with Ne Zha the second time and right after having the disney equivalent conversation of "follow your dreams" with his dad shortly after which he went to go and stay with Ne Zha. It's going to live in my mind rent free.

These two got me giggling and kicking my feet.