The
jiang hu world is the fictional environment in which many [wu xia]
? stories are set. The term
jiang hu can be translated literally as "rivers and lakes"; metaphorically, it refers to any wild or unsettled region. In medieval China, outlaws often fled to the frontiers, returning only to prey upon the straight world.
The roots of jiang hu wu xia go back at least as far as the 12th-century novel [The Water Margin]?, in which a band of noble outlaws retreat to a swampy hideout and mount wrong-righting sorties against corrupt officials.