江湖

1. • rivers and lakes
2. • all corners of the country remote areas to which hermits retreat
3. • section of society operating independently of mainstream society, out of reach of the law the milieu in which wuxia tales play out (cf. 武侠 wǔxiá)
4. • world of traveling merchants, itinerant doctors, fortune tellers etc demimonde

     in late imperial times

5. • triads secret gangster societies underworld

     in modern times

Character by character

• 江(jiāng)river
• 湖(hú)lake