Jianghu
''
Jianghu'' () is a
Chinese term that generally refers to the
social environment in which many Chinese ''
wuxia'', ''
xianxia'', and ''
gong'an'' stories are set. The term is used flexibly, and can be used to describe a fictionalized version of
imperial China (usually using loose influences from across the 221 BC – 1912 AD period of time); a setting of feuding
martial arts clans and the people of that community; a
secret and possibly
criminal underworld; a general sense of the "mythic world" where fantastical stories happen; or some combination thereof. A closely related term, ''wulin'' (武林; wǔlín; 'martial forest'), refers exclusively to the community of martial artists that inhabit a ''jianghu'' setting. The term ''wulin'' has been borrowed into
Korean as ''murim'' (무림) to refer to fiction set in Chinese-inspired martial arts worlds.
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