The Global Dissemination of Chinese Culture through Black Myth Wukong: A Systematic Literature Review

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52152/RCR.V13.6

Keywords:

Cultural Dissemination, Chinese Mythology in Gaming, Black Myth Wukong, Cross-cultural Communication, Digital Storytelling

Abstract

The dissemination of Chinese culture through digital media has gained significant momentum, with video games emerging as powerful tools for cultural transmission. Black Myth: Wukong exemplifies this trend, blending traditional Chinese storytelling with modern gaming technology to introduce global audiences to Chinese mythology. This study employs a systematic literature review (SLR) to analyze how the game integrates traditional narratives, promotes Chinese cultural identity, and compares to other Chinese mythology-based games. The findings indicate that Black Myth: Wukong enhances cultural appreciation through imagological representation, foreignization strategies, and immersive gameplay, successfully bridging cultural gaps. Additionally, the game contributes to China’s soft power strategy, reinforcing national identity while appealing to international audiences. Compared to earlier Chinese mythology-inspired games, Black Myth: Wukong has achieved greater global recognition due to its high production quality, deep narrative structure, and innovative storytelling techniques. The study’s findings have practical implications for game developers, cultural policymakers, and scholars, highlighting how video games can serve as effective cultural diplomacy tools. Future research should explore player reception and long-term industry impact to further understand the role of gaming in global cultural exchange. 

References

Aldea, J. M. L. (2017). Playing with the past: Digital games and the simulation of history. Eviterna, (2), 45-47.

Al-Zubidy, S., & Carver, J. C. (2019). Use of Boolean expressions in systematic literature reviews: A systematic mapping study. Information and Software Technology, 106, 92-107.

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.

Consalvo, M. (2006). Console video games and global corporations: Creating a hybrid culture. New Media & Society, 8(1), 117-137.

Creswell, J. W. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Eyman, D., Guo, L., & Sun, H. (2024). Introduction: Games, gaming, and interactive aesthetics in contemporary Chinese and sinophone cinema. Journal of Chinese Film Studies, 4(3), 427-444.

Feng, W., Ren, H., & Wu, D. (2022). How to tell China’s story well in the era of short videos: A study on Li Ziqi's intercultural communication strategies on YouTube. Media, (16), 65-68.

Hjorth, L., & Chan, D. (Eds.). (2009). Gaming cultures and place in Asia-Pacific (Vol. 5). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Hunzaker, M. F. (2016). Cultural sentiments and schema-consistency bias in information transmission. American Sociological Review, 81(6), 1223-1250.

Hyttinen, M. (2010). Bringing the foreign into play—Cultural transfer in video game localization (Master’s thesis, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland). Retrieved from https://trepo.tuni.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/81557/gradu04282.pdf

Jiang, Y. (2012). Cyber-Nationalism in China. Challenging Western media portrayals of internet censorship in China. Adelaide, Australia: University of Adelaide Press.

Johnson, R. B., Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Turner, L. A. (2007). Toward a definition of mixed methods research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(2), 112-133.

Kulich, S. J., Weng, L., Tong, R., & DuBois, G. (2020). Interdisciplinary history of intercultural communication studies. The Cambridge Handbook of Intercultural Training, 60-163.

Lickert, M. R. (2019). Gaming myth: An exploration of video gaming, heritage, and identity creation in contemporary Cuba (Doctoral dissertation, University of Reading, Reading, UK). https://doi.org/10.48683/1926.00088829

Liu, W. (2015). A historical overview of uses and gratifications theory. Cross-Cultural Communication, 11(9), 71-78.

Luo, Y., & Han, C. W. (2024). Study on the narrative expression of Chinese culture in AAA game cutscene animation: Focusing on < Black Myth: Wukong>. Journal of Digital Contents Society, 25(12), 3547-3560.

Mao, H. (2024, June). A study on cross-cultural communication factors of Black Myth Wukong. In 2024 third International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities and Arts (SSHA 2024) (pp. 700-708). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Atlantis Press.

Mar, R. A., Oatley, K., Djikic, M., & Mullin, J. (2011). Emotion and narrative fiction: Interactive influences before, during, and after reading. Cognition & Emotion, 25(5), 818-833.

Mazzanti, M. (2002). Cultural heritage as multi-dimensional, multi-value and multi-attribute economic good: Toward a new framework for economic analysis and valuation. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 31(5), 529-558.

Ni, Z. (2024). Ludonarratology and gamevironments in dialogue. Gamevironments, (21), 84-118.

Pasqualotto, A., Parong, J., Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2023). Video game design for learning to learn. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 39(11), 2211-2228.

Razmerita, L., Kirchner, K., & Nielsen, P. (2016). What factors influence knowledge sharing in organizations? A social dilemma perspective of social media communication. Journal of Knowledge Management, 20(6), 1225-1246.

Šisler, V. (2008). Digital Arabs: Representation in video games. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 11(2), 203-220.

Squire, K. D. (2014). Video-game literacy: A literacy of expertise. In Handbook of research on new literacies (pp. 635-670). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Sun, X. (2024). From farm to game: Understanding Chinese culture through video games (Master’s thesis, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC). https://doi.org/10.17615/hjh6-j907

Tranfield, D., Denyer, D., & Smart, P. (2003). Towards a methodology for developing evidence-informed management knowledge by means of systematic review. British Journal of Management, 14(3), 207-222.

Vindigni, G. (2023). Decoding cultural affinity in video games: An examination of narrative expression, visual aesthetics, and interactive design in the digital era. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(6), 290-305.

Wang, A., & Whyke, T. W. (2024). From ancient Zhiguai tales to contemporary animation: A study of visual rhetoric in ‘Yao-Chinese Folktales’ (2023). Animation, 19(1), 58-75.

Wang, M. (2024). Research on the "going global" of Chinese TV series from the perspective of intercultural communication. China Television, (06), 80-84.

Xiao, Y., & Chu, M. (2024). Cong xushi celüe kan zhong guo jilupian ruhe “zou chuqu”—Jiyu 50 ge shipin anli de dingxing bijiao fenxi [How Chinese documentaries "go global" from a narrative strategy perspective: A qualitative comparative analysis of 50 video cases]. New Media & Public Communication, (01), 170-184 & 206-207.

Yuan, S. (2024). From play to power: China’s video games as instruments of soft power. The Pacific Review, 1-22.

Yuan, W. (2024). An imagological analysis of the video game Black Myth: WuKong. Signs and Media, 3(1-2), 55-75.

Zhang, L., & Frazier, T. (2017). ‘Playing the Chinese card’: Globalization and the aesthetic strategies of Chinese contemporary artists. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 20(6), 567-584.

Zhu, Y. (2024). China’s heritage through history: Reconfigured pasts. Oxford, UK: Taylor & Francis.

Downloads

Published

2025-02-20

Issue

Section

Articles