03-07-2013, 12:20 PM
KB (DOOM bro high on the 'we should check in on him to make sure he's not in jail' list) once asked me about the Jianghu after watching Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. It comes up in that film very quickly in a line Michelle Yeoh delivers, but the subtitle reads "gianghu" which dangles precariously for anyone uninitiated. I can't remember if I answered KB to his satisfaction, but I do remember being impressed that he even caught it.
Jianghu literally means 'rivers and lakes' but it refers to a semi-underground, semi-mythic, over-romanticized portion of martial arts society in medieval China, somewhat parallel to the Ronin of Japan. These were martial arts heroes and villains who traveled the waterways (rivers and lakes) and went about having adventures and such. Mostly, the notion derives from Wuxia (literally 'martial knight') which describes a genre of literature, film and legend. Chinese pulp fiction goes back centuries so it got incorporated into today's standing myths and legends; the two are hard to separate. Outlaws of the Marsh is essential wuxia and that dates back to the 14th. Numerous styles of present-day Kung Fu descend from that tale, which like Robin Hood or King Arthur, has some historical basis but is mostly fiction. We even did a special issue focused on it. Wuxia continues to develop. Louis Cha (aka Jin Yong), who CF and I have mentioned in the books section of this forum, has had a tremendous impact on the genre, and he's still alive. Wulin (literally 'martial forest') is a related term which generally refers to the community of martial heroes.
Jianghu literally means 'rivers and lakes' but it refers to a semi-underground, semi-mythic, over-romanticized portion of martial arts society in medieval China, somewhat parallel to the Ronin of Japan. These were martial arts heroes and villains who traveled the waterways (rivers and lakes) and went about having adventures and such. Mostly, the notion derives from Wuxia (literally 'martial knight') which describes a genre of literature, film and legend. Chinese pulp fiction goes back centuries so it got incorporated into today's standing myths and legends; the two are hard to separate. Outlaws of the Marsh is essential wuxia and that dates back to the 14th. Numerous styles of present-day Kung Fu descend from that tale, which like Robin Hood or King Arthur, has some historical basis but is mostly fiction. We even did a special issue focused on it. Wuxia continues to develop. Louis Cha (aka Jin Yong), who CF and I have mentioned in the books section of this forum, has had a tremendous impact on the genre, and he's still alive. Wulin (literally 'martial forest') is a related term which generally refers to the community of martial heroes.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse