In a speech earlier this month, Taiwanese poet 余光中(yu2 guang zhong) remarked that to learn Chinese well, there are two things for a foreigner to learn first: to eat stinky tofu and to understand the meaning of the term 江湖(jiang hu2).
His theory is that Chinese learners have to learn the language through “Chinese taste bud” and feels. And when the term江湖is used, you should be able to read between the lines to tell what it really means.
The term江湖, literally meaning river and lake, is largely used in武俠小說(wu3 xia2 xiao3 shuo),Wu-Xia novels. According to Wikipedia: 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.
You can’t speak of武俠小說, Wu-Xia novels without mentioning 金庸(jin yong), the most recognized Wu-Xia novelist in the Chinese world.
I got the whole series of his works in my studies for more than two decades, as a “decoration”, though, for I’ve never really engaged my full attention reading them. But Jin Yong’s characters are so well-known in the Chinese world that you don’t have to read the novels yourself to know them. They have in some way become stereotypes in our language.
These days as the heating presidential campaigns goes on, watching those politicians lying or manipulating the media with their smearing tactics reminds me of the song滄海一聲笑(cang hai3 yi4 sheng xiao4), which is the theme song of the movie笑傲江湖(xiao4 ao4 jiang hu2), The smiling proud wanderer, an adaptation from Jin Yong’s novel of the same title.
I’ve never seen the movie but I love the song. In the end of the story when the fighting and turmoil get settled, you hear the song ringing in your ear, you might smile and think, “What’s the hustle and bustle, fighting and killing for?”
Hearing the song, I once again recall a dream that more or less has been shared in a corner of the hearts of my generation—to be a smiling and proud wanderer in this hustle-and-bustle world, instead of getting a “real job” and leading a “normal” life.
You might want to listen to the song for a change in this holiday season.
滄海一聲笑 (cang hai3 yi4 sheng xiao4) by 黃霑
滄海笑 滔滔兩岸潮 (cang hai3 xia4/ tao tao liang3 a i4 c hao2)
The vast sea laughs, lashing on both coasts.浮沉隨浪記今朝 (fu2 c hen2 sui2 l ang4 ji4 jin zhao)
Carried in the waves, we have only now.
蒼天笑 紛紛世上潮 (cang tian xia4/ fen fen shi4 shang4 chao2)
The heaven laughs, at the troubled world.
誰負誰勝出天知曉 (shei2 fu4 shei2 sheng4 chu tian zhi xiao3)
Only he knows, who is to win or lose.
江山笑 煙雨遙 (jiang shan xiao4/ yan yu3 yao2)
The mountain laughs, the rain is afar.
濤浪濤盡紅塵俗事知多少
(tao lang4 tao jin4 hong2 chen2 su2 shi4 zhi duo shao3)When the waves grow old, the world still goes on.
清風笑 竟惹寂寥 (qing feng xiao4, jing4 re3 ji2 liao2)
The wind laughs, lost in quite solitude.
豪情還剩了一襟晚照 (hao2 qing2 hai2 sheng4 liao3 yi jin wan3 zhao4)
Beyond my lofty aspiration bequeaths a tinge of melancholy.
蒼生笑 不再寂寥 (cang sheng xiao4/ bu2 zai4 ji2 liao2)
People laugh, I’m no longer afloat in the sea of loneliness.
豪情仍在痴痴笑笑 (hao2 qing2 reng2 zai4 chi chi xiao4 xiao4)
With infatuation and smiling, I’m still embracing my aspiration and dream.
滄海一聲笑=沧海一声笑
武俠小說=武侠小说
