Zhihu implements emojis using bracketed keyword markers that corespond to images, similar to WeChat's approach. Hovering over an emoji reveals its alt attribute containing the textual identifier.

To render these emojis as plain text, image loading must be blocked so that the alt text appears instead. Inspection via browser developer tools shows these emoji images originate from domains like pic[0-9].zhimg.com, typically in the format https://pic[0-9].zhimg.com/v2-xxxxx.jpg, distinguishing them from regular images which include a ?source= paraemter.

Using uBlock Origin, apply the following filter rule:

||pic*.zhimg.com/*.png

However, applying this alone hides the emojis without showing their alt text.

Further investigation shows that JavaScript event listeners manipulate the display of .sticker elements when images fail to load. These scripts come from https://unpkg.zhimg.com. Blocking this domain resolves the issue:

unpkg.zhimg.com

With both rules active, emojis now appear as thier corresponding text labels.