Glossary

This glossary lists the Chinese words used in Nine Springs, with their pinyin and what each one means in the game. Most terms are explained in more depth on the Springs, the White Bloom and Force pages.

The world

Chinese	Pinyin	In the game	Meaning
九泉	Jiǔquán	Nine Springs	The bunker. Also the old word for the land of the dead
白霉	Bái Méi	The White Bloom	The fungus that killed the world above. Made by an AI to kill crop pests, it learned to kill everything warm-blooded
后稷	Hòujì	Houji	The crop-protection AI that made the White Bloom; named for the god who taught people to farm
封门	Fēngmén	The Sealing	Year 0, when the bunker closed its gates against the spores
女娲	Nǚwā	Nüwa	The Springs’ facility AI; named for the goddess who mended the sky
外面	Wàimiàn	Outside	The surface, beyond the sealed gates
天门	Tiānmén	The Gate	The top of the Springs, held by the Bureau
风坊	Fēngfāng	The Wind Wards	Old families’ district, where the clean air arrives first
市井	Shìjǐng	The Market Square	The main hub, where the game starts
工层	Gōng Céng	The Works	The engineers’ and workers’ district
城寨	Chéngzhài	The Walled City	The Market Square’s tenement district

The dead and the network

Chinese	Pinyin	In the game	Meaning
数字魂	Shùzì Hún	Digital ghosts	Copies of the dead living in the network
薪火	Xīnhuǒ	The Ember Archive	Where the memorials of the dead are stored. From 薪尽火传, “the firewood burns out, the fire passes on”
牌位	Páiwèi	Memorial	An ancestor tablet; here a digital one
神经接口	Shénjīng Jiēkǒu	Neural port	The implant behind the ear almost everyone has: ID, wallet, machine control
中元	Zhōngyuán	Ghost Month	The festival when the network is unsafe

Force

Chinese	Pinyin	In the game	Meaning
种	Zhǒng	The seed	Medical nanites in the blood that store oxygen and repair the body
播种	Bōzhǒng	Seeding	Injecting the seed; allowed only by Bureau licence
内力	Nèilì	Force	The oxygen and energy the seed stores
丹田	Dāntián	Dantian	The reservoir in the belly where the seed stores it
经脉	Jīngmài	Meridians	The channels where the seed gathers and travels
精气神	Jīng Qì Shén	Three Treasures	The three Force skills: Essence, Energy, Mind
走火入魔	Zǒuhuǒ Rùmó	Qi deviation	The port loses control and the seed releases everything at once
轻功	Qīnggōng	Qinggong	Force-powered leaps, wall-runs and safe falls
点穴	Diǎnxué	Acupoint strike	A discharge that stuns nerves or disables implants

Society

Chinese	Pinyin	In the game	Meaning
人情	Rénqíng	Favour	Debts of obligation, half the economy of the Springs
面子	Miànzi	Face	Social standing
粮票	Liáng Piào	Grain coupon	The everyday currency

Folk spirits and machines

Chinese	Pinyin	In the game	Meaning
傀儡	Kuǐlěi	Puppet	Folk name for any rogue machine
僵尸	Jiāngshī	Jiangshi	A hopping corpse: a seeded body whose seed still tries to keep it alive
狐妖	Húyāo	Fox spirit	A fox the seed changed over decades; charms people through their neural port
符箓	Fúlù	Talisman	Taoist talismans; here, crafted devices against ghosts