The Mysterious World of Jianghu

What is the Lord of the Rings of Chinese literature? Many people believe that it must be The Legend of the Condor Heroes written by Jin Yong, a literary giant of the Chinese-speaking world. The New Yorker commented that his work “has a cultural currency roughly equal to that of ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Star Wars’ combined.” ¹ Many people are attracted to the mysterious world in Jin Yong’s works, which is called jianghu (江湖 jiānghú)—a unique realm of the imagination in Chinese culture.

Jin Yong    Image credit: https://www.douban.com/note/695180433/?type=collect

Literally meaning “rivers and lakes,” jianghu is a complex concept open to a myriad of interpretations. The term jianghu appeared in Chinese classical literary texts more than two thousand years ago. Zhuangzi (庄子, Zhuāngzǐ), an influential ancient Chinese philosopher, wrote:

“When the springs dry up and the fish are left stranded on the ground, they spew each other with moisture and wet each other down with spit—but it would be much better if they could forget each other in the rivers and lakes.” (泉涸，鱼相与处于陆，相呴以湿，相濡以沫不如相忘于江湖。) ²

This literal translation of the original passage takes the term jianghu by its surface meaning, but according to Laozi’s Taoist philosophy, “to forget each other in jianghu” (相忘于江湖, xiāng wàng yú jiānghú) is also a way of pursuing a state of xiaoyao (逍遥, xiāoyáo, being carefree), of looking for enjoyment in life. Later, in classical Chinese poetry, the use of the term became more versatile. It could refer to all corners of a country, or express a person’s willingness to renounce the world. However, jianghu, as it is most universally understood today, is an imaginary realm derived from a special literary genre: wuxia (武侠), or martial arts, fiction.

You may have seen a fight scene like this in wuxia films: two people in black are chasing each other, leaping onto roofs, vaulting over walls. They may slide over the surface of the water and shuttle through a bamboo forest. A gust of wind rustles through the leaves, and they are fighting with swords in the forest with complex and amazing moves. This picture of wuxia can help us understand the concept of jianghu because they are closely related. Wuxia combines two characters in Chinese: wu (武, wǔ), a symbol of physical strength and martial arts skills, and xia (侠, xiá), referring to a certain group of people who share similar traits with Robin Hood in Western culture. They are skillful in battle and pursue freedom and justice by “robbing from the rich and giving to the poor” (劫富济贫, jiéfù jìpín). These people are the main characters of wuxia stories, while the background of the stories is jianghu.

Image credit: https://k.sina.com.cn/article_6483609002_1827405aa00100rqqn.html?from=cul

Therefore, jianghu does not exist in the physical world, it generally refers to the fantastical world of Chinese martial arts. Moreover, jianghu is the opposite of miaotang (庙堂, miàotáng, imperial government), the world of majestic palaces, solemn ceremonies, and dynastic officials. Miaotang is the extant political authority in ancient China, which is under the control of the officials and emperor. Different from Tolkien’s Middle Earth, an imaginary continent separate from reality in Western fantasy fiction, jianghu actually coexists with the real world. It is an anarchic condition beyond the reach of government, and a gray realm wandering on the verge of crime.

Jianghu is inclusive. Whether you are burdened with a quest for revenge or intend to renounce the world, whether you are prestigious or unknown, you can survive in jianghu as long as you follow its moral code. As Nick Frisch, a writer and translator focusing on Asian studies, writes, jianghu “metaphorically refers to an alluvial underworld of hucksters and heroes beyond the reach of the imperial government.” ³

Jianghu endows people with great freedom to pursue their desires and wills, but in it righteousness and justice are well-respected and praised at the same time. Therefore, the morality of jianghu (江湖道义, jiānghú dàoyì) deriving from this “hidden world” can also have a profound impact on flesh-and-blood Chinese people. For example, people seem to adore those who take risks or make sacrifices for friendship and relationships, and this kind of behavior will be praised as having the quality of personal loyalty or yiqi (义气, yìqì). Some adolescents would prefer to solve conflicts by fighting without any tricks, and see seeking help from teachers and parents as a disgrace. This phenomenon was prevalent when my father was a teenager, though now it is rare. Although we do not act out jianghu behavior in real life, it will not stop us from showing respect and admiration for jianghu dwellers.

Another interesting question is, why are Chinese people so interested in the fantasy world of jianghu, even having the feeling that this ideal world must have actually existed in Chinese history? Why do the literary concepts of jianghu and wuxia have such cultural currency that this fictional world has become a part of Chinese culture?

I would like to suggest a potential reason why the emergence of jianghu is important. First, I believe the profound influence of jianghu should be partially credited to Jin Yong, the lionized author of Chinese martial arts epics. Jin Yong had an encyclopedic knowledge of classical Chinese culture, and he wove Chinese traditional culture including poetry and history into his fiction, so various details in his book can be found in, or reflect, recorded history. Second, these epics appeared at a specific time—the 1950s. At that time, the country had just gone through endless wars and still suffered from societal turbulence. Due to the political conflicts and cultural destruction, Chinese people felt lost. The emergence of jianghu was the result of a yearning for a sense of cultural roots during a time when many Chinese people felt cut off from them. Jianghu, an idealized world of ancient Chinese culture, served the psychological needs of Chinese people by giving them a feeling of shared cultural identity.

Overall, however ambiguous and shifting the meaning of jianghu is, the notion has created a fictionalized reservoir of common Chinese cultural memory: a hidden world that is both mysterious and marvelous.

Editor | Austin Woerner
Layout | Ruohan Wang 王若菡

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Chen Wei (陈薇), a sophomore majoring in behavioral science, is fascinated by observing human interactions and trying to find connections between the academic world and real life. She wrote this essay in Austin Woerner’s EAP102A class, and she is eager to share her special passion for the Chinese genre of wuxia.

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