Jianghu

The jianghu is the milieu, environment, or sub-community, often fictional, in which many Chinese wuxia
stories are set.
In modern Chinese culture, jianghu is commonly accepted as an alternative universe coexisting with the
actual historical one in which the context of the wuxia genre was set. Each wuxia novel has its own
jianghu setting, although in ouis Cha!s Condor Trilogy it will be one with continuity" whereas #u ong!s
jianghu would be distinct in every novel.
The concept of jianghu can be traced to the $%th century novel Water Margin, in which a band of noble
outlaws, who mounted regular sorties in an attempt to right the wrongs of corrupt officials, retreated to
their hideout. These bandits were called the Chivalrous men of the Green Forests &simplified Chinese'
" traditional Chinese' " pinyin' lln hohn(. The )green forest) was the antecedent to
jianghu.
*ne of the earliest coinage of jianghu was by a dejected poet +an ,hongyan &-.-/$012( in the 3ong
4ynasty in his poem Yueyang Lou Ji &(,5$6 in which the context of jianghu was set out as distant
to the courts and temples, meaning a world in its own right.
Contents
$ 7remises in jianghu
2 8orality in jianghu
9 :ia
% ;ulin
1 8odern use of )jianghu)
< 3ee also
= >otes
. External lin?s
Premises in jianghu
It is a tacit assumption in many wuxia novels that the law and order in the actual historical setting were
dysfunctional or poor, li?e the change of dynastic China from 3ong 4ynasty to @uan 4ynasty, to 8ing
4ynasty and to Aing 4ynasty, periods in time correlating to tremendous upheavals and turmoil in the
society. In ouis Cha!s novels the dysfunctionality can come in two levels' firstly, law and order bro?en
down locally within China and secondly, the sovereignty of China came to be challenged by invaders.
ocalised disorder is the predicate where the chivalry and the code of ia will be much needed to mend
the ills of the world. The second layer of dysfunctionality in Cha!s wor?s would then become setting to
showcase the patriotism and loyalty of the protagonists to their epoch or their emperors.
Even during periods of stability, neither the Imperial Court in the capital nor local governments could be
relied on to protect the interests of the commoners. Travelling performers, itinerant traders and wandering
craftsmen who spend most of their time )on the road) came to see their world as separate from those
governed by legal authorities.
+or those )on the road), the powers that matter most were petty strongmen who controlled local patches
of turfs. 3ome of the strongmen were landed gentries or temples whose powers were derived from legal
ownership of farmlands and villages. *thers were bandits who claimed control over stretches of
wilderness, mountain roads or riverways - any legal authorities present, if any, were too wea? to contest
the controls.
Integral to jianghu is the smaller circle of martial arts practitioners usually including the protagonists
called wulin.
Morality in jianghu
B strong element in the structure of jianghu, is the line between good and evil, right and wrong, is crystal
clear" it is absolute. ;ith some exceptions in #u ong!s wor?s, protagonist in wuxia novels usually
represent the right side of the law and ethos, their nemesis the opposite. It is here that theories abound on
3tar ;ars!s philosophy of the Cedi were based on that of xia and the setting of jianghu in this genre. The
absolute definition of morality in wuxia is understandably a reaction to the real world where it is not Duite
so clear what or who is purely good or otherwise, consider the context and the historicity of Eong Fong
at the time of ouis Cha!s wor?s.
Xia
Code of xia is absolute, and sometimes with no regard to the law or authority. It is righteousness ta?en to
the extreme, in that the xia-adherents when righting a wrong would only be answerable only to hisGher
morality. The modus operandi, and the benchmar? morality of all xia adherents in jianghu is on en &"
good-deed or gracious deeds( and yuan &" feuds or misgiving(.
There is one profession within jianghu where code of xia might become situational, which is the security-
bodyguard eDuivalent !iaohang &(, who are for-hire xia for delivery of goods or escort services. This
is the closest eDuivalent to the bushido samurai or the soldier of fortune in the jianghu world.
Wulin
;ulin &( is a term referring to the smaller microcosm within jianghu. Inhabitants of wulin are clearly
differentiated from those within jianghu, in that they all ?now some form of wushu or martial arts. Bnd
the way to differentiate the good from the bad within wulin is the code of xia, those who adhere to it are
good, those who do not are bad.
The standard of morality within wulin is less vigorous than that in jianghu or in the historical setting. It is
common to split wulin into blac? and white )ways), denoting the criminous and virtuous. Fillers,
murderers and those less scruplous belong to the )blac? way) would live in wulin with a bad reputation,
until someone would right their wrongs. The virtuous )white way) adherents are commonly represented
by the major schools including 3haolin, ;udang, Emei to name a few, who are the benchmar? )good
guys) of wulin.
The different schools are loo?ed up to, and usually act as the elder advisors to the smaller elite circle
within wulin. Every now and again wulin needs to have a champion, a general or a commander to lead the
collective resources of wulin participants for China. B "ulin meng#hu &" alliance leader of the
wulin( will sometimes be nominated and voted for this role. Typically but not always, the protagonist of a
wuxia novel will become this leader and command the actions of wulin.
In many wuxia novels, many seemingly uprighteous masters harbour seedy ambitions eventually turning
them into dar? personalities. These characters are reflections of politicians and lobbyists.
Modern use of "jianghu"
In modern times, the term )jianghu) can ta?e on two generic meanings, one for different professional
circles and a second used to refer to the triads and the secret societies of gangsters.
See also
;uxia
:iH
Notes
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External links
Ciang Eu' Chinese 8artial Inderworld &bro?en lin?
;uxia +iction' Bn Introduction to the ;uxia #enre
Incovering ;uxia Cargon