Jianghu
The so-called Jianghu is something with Chinese characteristics. The love story about Jianghu, the pride and loyalty in Jianghu, and the details about wandering around Jianghu are unforgettable. , the classic stories in the novel have made people yearn for it, and many people have been affected by it. It is also because of this that Jianghu games such as Legend are so popular in China.
It is better to look at the rivers and lakes than to help each other
Where there are people is the rivers and lakes
The word rivers and lakes comes from lt; Zhuangzi. The Great Master Chapter gt;: When the spring dries up, the fish doubles Rather than being on the land, hugging each other with moisture, and rubbing each other with foam, it is better to forget each other in the rivers and lakes
What are rivers and lakes? People are the world. What is Jianghu? Grudges are the world. Jianghu is beautiful, waving the sword with his name engraved on it alone on the street late at night, as cool as the wind, Jianghu is helpless, watching his beloved master and friend bleed into the sand, and he can only face the wall for ten years for revenge. This is Jianghu. In the arena, you can combine your swords with your lover and play the song "Swordsman and Proud of the Arena". You can also rely on your own extreme intelligence to find legendary secrets and practice peerless martial arts. Or start a mountain to recruit disciples and become a respected master. You can also make your own sword, kill one person in ten steps, leave no trace behind for thousands of miles, and become the legendary lone swordsman. After completing some almost harsh conditions, you can worship legendary figures such as Feng Qingyang, Zhang Sanfeng, Bodhidharma, Wang Chongyang, and Yang Guo, and learn enviable martial arts.
The term "jianghu" was first proposed by Zhuangzi. It comes from "Zhuangzi's Great Master Chapter". The original sentence is "The spring has dried up, and the fish and I are on the land. It is better to forget each other in the rivers and lakes."
The original meaning is: After the spring water dried up, the two fishes did not leave in time and were trapped in a small depression on the land. The two fishes could not move. They moistened each other with mouth foam to keep each other moist. At this time, the two fishes remembered their past lives of freedom in rivers and lakes, not knowing each other.
Then Gu Long said in a martial arts book through the mouth of the killer Yan Shisan: People in the Jianghu can't help themselves, which became a shocking statement. So far, the title of Jianghu has been accepted by more people. , also has a deeper and broader connotation. In the end, it was Mr. Gu Long who summarized the name of Jianghu: Wherever there are people, it is Jianghu. As I said, I remember Tsui Hark's version of "The Swordsman II", that unforgettable ink landscape and innocent work, because "as long as there are people, there will be grudges" became heavy.
Looking back to Zhuangzi, he has always used the form of fables to explain mysterious truths, which can be said to be precious. Rivers and lakes, not streams and seas, precisely because streams cannot hold more, give people the feeling of gurgling water, crystal clear, and we can't bear to see the turbidity; the sea is so huge, violent and terrifying, and there is only one thing in our hearts Awe-inspiring, feeling daunting. Only rivers and lakes can truly express artistic conception. Rivers have the meaning and length of streams, and have the potential to rush to the Bohai Sea. The complex water environment is mixed with mud and sand; lakes have the depth of the sea, and contain infinite life. Human sorrow lies in the world.
The etymology of "Jianghu"
——From Chen Pingyuan's "Eternal Dreams of Literati and Knights" to "Zhuangzi", the first classic of Jianghu culture
Zhang Yuanshan
I can’t read the works of contemporary mainland scholars unless I turn two pages, or else I will mark them with many negative comments, just in case I need to write an article to criticize, so that I can easily find evidence. However, Mr. Chen Pingyuan's "Eternal Dreams of Literati and Knights", I not only read it in one sitting, but also made a lot of positive comments. This book has many great meanings, such as why chivalrous men must wear swords and why chivalrous bones are fragrant. There are also many witty sentences, such as "'Mountain Forest' has less smoke and fire smell, while 'Jianghu' has more blood smell"; - "'Mountain Forest' mainly belongs to hermits, and 'Green Forest' mainly belongs to bandits. The one that truly belongs to knights can only be ' Jianghu'"; "The ideal life realm of Chinese literati can be expressed by the following formula - young wanderer - middle-aged wanderer - old wanderer." It's a pity that this book has one big and small embarrassment: it must be called "jianghu", but the real etymology of "jianghu" cannot be found.
一
The seventh chapter of this book, "Swordsman and Proud Jianghu", begins: "When talking about martial arts novels, we cannot avoid 'Jianghu'...'Jianghu' belongs to 'Xia Ke'" '; Or to put it conversely, 'Xia Ke' can only live in 'Jiang Hu'. This almost common sense judgment actually has profound meaning, but people rarely delve into why 'Xia Ke' is not connected with 'Jiang Hu'. We cannot be together." Then the etymology of the word "jianghu" was explored.
Chen Pingyuan's interpretation of the word "jianghu" is: "'jianghu' originally refers to the Yangtze River and Dongting Lake, and can also refer to the three rivers and five lakes in general." The crux of this superficial interpretation is that he found The earliest source of "Historical Records" after the Qin Dynasty: ""Historical Records·Huozhi Biography" states that Fan Li 'floated in the rivers and lakes in a flat boat.'" He obviously knew that this could not be the etymology of "江湖", so he added He denied it himself: "The 'jianghu' in it refers to the five lakes. Therefore, "Guoyu·Yueyuxia" is also called Fan Li' - so he took a light boat to float on the five lakes, not knowing where he will end up.'"
Due to the failure to find the origin of the word "江湖", Chen Pingyuan's following explanation misses the point -: "Because of Fan Li's aloofness, when future generations talk about 'jianghu', it is likely that it will no longer be just - In the geographical sense, there are three rivers and five lakes. Gao Shi's poem "Heaven and Earth Zhuang gives birth to horses, and rivers and lakes are fans of Lizhou". Du Fu's poem "I want to send friends from rivers and lakes to support the sun and the moon." "Slender and light in the palm", the "jianghu" in it has the implicit meaning of the opposite of the imperial court, that is, the "human world" where hermits and common people live. This cultural meaning of "jianghu" is reflected in Fan Zhongyan's famous sentence as follows. It is most clear: if you live high in a temple, you will worry about its people; if you live far away from the rivers and lakes, you will worry about your ruler. "[1]
From the "Historical Records" of the Western Han Dynasty, which is not the origin of the word "jianghu". (Although it is about Fan Li in the late Spring and Autumn Period), jump to the poems of the Tang Dynasty poets Gao Shi, Du Fu, and Du Mu eight hundred years later with the word "jiang-hu", and then jump three hundred years later to Fan Zhongyan of the Northern Song Dynasty. Regarding the famous saying about "jianghu", with a time span of more than a thousand years, Chen Pingyuan still could not find the true etymology of "jianghu" because - he was looking in the wrong direction. He should look for it before "Historical Records", not after "Historical Records". All elemental cultural concepts must find their source in the pre-Qin classics before they can count. This should become basic common sense in the academic world. The pre-Qin period is called the Axial Age because it provided all the cultural elements of the post-Axial Age.
Since he was looking in the wrong direction and had nothing to do, Chen Pingyuan had to quietly put aside the question of the etymology of "江湖" and returned to the original title of "Swordsman": ""Historical Records" is a ranger. In the biography, the word "jianghu" was not used... The Tang Dynasty people re-placed the knights in the Jianghu, which is remarkable and basically established the development direction of martial arts novels... "has appeared in the heroic novels of the Tang Dynasty." "Jianghu" is the word, and "Jianghu" is used as the background of chivalrous activities." [2-] From this, we go all the way down to the new martial arts novels of the twentieth century and Jin Yong's novel - "The Swordsman". Since the etymology of "江湖" is unclear, Chen Pingyuan gave readers the illusion that the word "江湖" only officially appeared in the heroic novels of the Tang Dynasty.
二
When used separately, the two characters "jiang" and "lake" form separate words. As a proper name, it refers specifically to the Yangtze River and Dongting Lake, and as a *** name, it is general. Refers to the three rivers and five lakes. However, the word "jianghu" is neither a simple addition of the two proper names "-jiang" and "lake" interpreted separately, nor is it the same name as the "three rivers" and "five-lakes". Nothing to do. In Chinese culture, "江湖" is a proper name with a special meaning. The two characters "江" and "湖" are just morphemes and cannot be formed into separate words, nor can they be interpreted separately. -More importantly, the special meaning of the proper name "江湖" is by no means an afterthought from the heroic novels of the Tang Dynasty to the contemporary martial arts novels, but has long existed in the pre-Qin era before the Tang Dynasty: The arena culture of civil society contrasted with the temple politics of the autocratic court. Therefore, it is not that the "jia Ke" comes first and then the "jianghu", but the meaningful and special "jianghu" comes first, and then the "jia Ke" who laughs and laughs proudly.
This is because the true etymology of this word comes from Zhuangzi, the first classic of Chinese culture that has never been recognized as an official classic in Confucian China. In the "Thirteen Classics" and all pre-Qin classics, the word "jianghu" does not appear - but it is easy to say, not difficult to say. If the learned at home and abroad have any objections, we are eager to correct them. .
The word "江湖" is used seven times in the whole book of "Zhuangzi", which is the earliest "江湖-" in Chinese. The order is as follows:
Jinzi has five stones. Gourd, why don't you worry about the big bottle floating in the rivers and lakes, but worry about the gourd falling down and being unable to contain it? - ("Internal Chapter·Xiaoyaoyou No. 1")
The spring dries up, and the fish and the fish are on the land. They are wet and wet with foam. It is better to forget each other in the rivers and lakes. ("-Inner Chapter·The Sixth Grand Master", for a repeat, please see "Outer Chapter·The Fourteenth of Tianyun")
Fish forget about the rivers and lakes, and people forget about Taoism. ("Internal Chapter: The Sixth Grand Master")
Those who raise birds should live in deep forests, swim on the mainland, and float in rivers and lakes. ("Wai Pian·Zhi-Le No. 18", for the restatement, please see "Wai Pian·Da Sheng No. 19")
Fu Fenghu Wenbao lives in the mountains and forests, crouching in A rock cave is quiet; walking at night and living in the day is a warning; although hunger and thirst are vague, it is like being alone in the rivers and lakes and looking for food, it is still; however, it is not immune to the danger of unforeseen circumstances. ("Water Chapter·Shanmu No. 20")
Which of the above five items (two abbreviations) is the original source of "Jianghu"? Let me be lazy and copy an old article from my book:
Zhuangzi and Han Fei are two pre-Qin thinkers who are tit for tat and disloyal to Dai Tian. Although Han Fei was born a few years after Zhuangzi's death. But the great genius of the two of them created the two greatest forces in China's two thousand years of history: Zhuangzi dominated Jianghu culture, and Han Fei dominated temple politics. ——By the way, the word "jianghu", which is opposite to the temple, also comes from the fable of the big gourd in "Zhuangzi Neipian·Xiao Yaoyou No. 1". The word "Jianghu" is regarded as the origin of "It is better to forget each other in the Jianghu", but it comes from "Zhuangzi Neipian·Grand Master Sixth". -Although the two "江湖" have similar meanings, after all, they are the first "江湖" that is more in line with later generations. 〔3〕 The reason why I quote only two quotes in my "Code of Fables" is because the inner chapters of "Zhuangzi" were written by Zhuangzi himself, the outer chapters were compiled and compiled by his disciples based on Zhuangzi's manuscripts and hearings, and the miscellaneous chapters were re-transmitted by his disciples. Play with Zhuangmen's postgraduate students. Moreover, only the first one directly talks about people (benefiting and giving), while the last four (plus two repeated ones) use objects (fish, birds, foxes, leopards) to describe people. So I think the first one appears earliest and is the true etymology of the word "江湖". Zhuangzi, the Tongtian leader of Jianghu China, indisputably owns the intellectual property rights of the word "jianghu".
Three
Chen Pingyuan said: "The cultural significance of 'jianghu' is most clearly expressed in Fan Zhongyan's famous saying: If you live high in the temple, you will worry about the people; If you are far away from the rivers and lakes, you will worry about your ruler." In fact, he regards the apocryphal scriptures as the true scriptures.
Although Fan Zhongyan’s words from "The Story of Yueyang Tower" are the most famous sayings about "temples" and "jiangs and lakes", not only can it not be the etymology of "jiangs and lakes", but Fan Zhongyan's Confucian stance - makes it even more impossible for him to explain the cultural meaning of "江湖" clearly, but will definitely distort and tamper with the true cultural meaning of "江湖-".
The political personality promoted by Confucian temples is the "gentleman" who is loyal to the emperor and herdsmen, while the cultural personality promoted by the Taoist world is the "real man" who looks down upon the princes. The cultural significance of "jianghu" is simply incompatible with Fan Zhongyan's Confucianism, so Fan Zhongyan's explanation of "jianghu" is completely unsubstantiated. The "jiangs and lakes" described by Fan Zhongyan are not the real rivers and lakes of cultural China, but the pseudo-jiangs and lakes of political China. What this pseudo-jiangs and lakes of political China intends to eliminate is the real rivers and lakes of cultural China. "When you are far away from the world, you worry about your king." It only reveals the humble political personality of the true Confucians who are temporarily in the world due to frustration, but it is far from revealing those true Taoists who live in the world, are happy in the world, and stand proudly in the world. A great cultural personality.
Those Confucians who "never forget the kindness of the emperor every meal", even if they are temporarily living in the world because they are not accepted by the emperor or fall out of favor with the emperor, are not true Taoists. They are pseudo-Taoists at best, so they are always thinking about making a profit. Wei Yuan - Entering the temple. The true Taoist cannot "worry about his king when he is far away from the rivers and lakes", but "the Son of Heaven cannot have ministers, and the princes cannot have friends" ("Zhuangzi·Miscellaneous Chapter·Rang Wang 28"), "The Lord alone and The spirit of heaven and earth communicates with each other, but it is not arrogant to all things" ("Zhuangzi·Miscellaneous Chapter·Tianxia No. 33-").
New interpretation of Jianghu: In the modern era, the word Jianghu is far from expressing a narrow sense. When modern people talk about Jianghu, they often mean the underworld order.
Being a part of the underworld means bleeding in the world. The underworld heroes portrayed in novels and movies do not exist in reality.
It is recommended to watch "Underworld" and "Underworld 2" to better understand the meaning of Jianghu.