Zhongli is a calm, reserved, and polite man, who holds an air of nostalgia. Whereas he is said to have a stoic demeanor for duty, Zhongli also has a sentimental side.[2] He knows much about Liyue history and culture in part due to his time as the Geo Archon; like Venti, he has many experiences and memories, as he was a god well before The Seven even existed and one of the oldest still living in Teyvat. He holds philosophical ideas towards money and has great respect for Liyue’s traditions, including those that have been forgotten or warped over time. Zhongli tends to be humble, being worried he comes off as a “bourgeois parasite.”[3]
Zhongli tends to forget about Mora in transactions, agreeing to spend large sums of it without having any Mora on hand and even taking “discounts” as granted despite being an obvious scam.[4] He often ends up relying on his acquaintances for financial support, such as the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor or Childe. Although he works for Hu Tao,[5] he does not like her childish behavior.[6]
It is later revealed that Zhongli’s “carelessness” stems from being the creator of Mora. With the Gnosis allowing him to create limitless Mora, he never had to worry about running low on his personal finances. Unfortunately, when he chose to live among mortals, he lacked the foresight to find an alternative for them to continue minting Mora in his absence, along with creating a retirement fund for himself. As a result, he shamelessly spends the Mora of others.
Being the reminiscent person he is, Zhongli enjoys Osmanthus wine as it was the drink he and his former Archon friends used to have when they met up in Liyue. He dislikes seafood as it reminds him of the promise he made to his people in the past when he fought a particularly annoying type of sea creature, although he does not mind eating them if they have been ground to a pulp.
In Liyue‘s traditional customs, “receiving adepti” and “sending adepti off” are equally important.
The Hus of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, who have been in this business for 77 generations, are the masters of handling funerals. However, Hu Tao, the current owner of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, primarily focuses on the art of sending mortals on their way.
For the various ceremonies for sending adepti off, Hu Tao usually employs the help of a friend in more or less the same business. That person’s name is Zhongli. The adepti have been with Liyue for millennia, but only a handful have ascended in the past three thousand years, which means that everything regarding the traditions now only exists in texts. This is not something one would likely witness twice in their entire lifetime.
Not even the most particular and learned of researchers or scholars could find one fault in Wangsheng Funeral Parlor’s ceremonies for sending adepti off.
Everything must be perfect, from the costumes, the time, the place, the items, the weather, the scheduled length, the size of the permitted audience, to the stature, profession, and age of said audience. Nothing can be overlooked.
When folk describe Zhongli as “living history,” the latter usually only smiles and sighs.
“I… just have a good memory.”
In his long life, he has met countless people, and shall meet countless more still.
As they say: the waters change course, but the mountains move not.—The Raiden Shogun, commenting on the past of neighboring nations to Guuji Yae.
Wangsheng Funeral Parlor Consultant
Wangsheng Funeral Parolor’s [sic] mysterious consultant. Handsome, elegant, and surpassingly learned.
Though no one knows where Zhongli is from, he is a master of courtesy and rules. His grasp of Liyue’s traditions is superior to that of any scholar. From his seat at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, he performs all manner of rituals. Proper clothing, auspicious timing, locations and appliances, observances and regulations, all such things can be left in his hands without a care.
But though he is a man of such particularity, he never has a Mora to his name. Trade requires capital, and transport demands payment, and yet Zhongli has no such thing on him — for in the end, someone else will always foot the bill.
He will attend the most celebrated performances, and be accompanied by the loveliest thrushes. His behavior is immaculate in every way, save for the matter of money. Those around him have long gotten used to his eccentricities, and do not take this matter to heart. If you ask him, he will say: “Is that so? I don’t recall anyone ever taking issue with me concerning money.”
Money for goods — that is the norm. How could someone living in this world not comprehend its fundamental truths?
Has the passage of too many years eroded his sense of mortal trivialities? Or does he see his voyage through this world as though it were a stroll amongst the clouds?
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