江湖

Chinese

		river	lake
trad. (江湖)		江	湖
simp. ^#(江湖)		江	湖

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): jiānghú

(Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄤㄏㄨˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): gong¹ wu⁴
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): kông-fù
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): kang-ô͘

(Teochew, Peng'im): gang¹ ou⁵
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹kaon-wu

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)
  - Hanyu Pinyin: jiānghú → jiānghu (toneless final syllable variant)
  - Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄤㄏㄨˊ → ㄐㄧㄤ ˙ㄏㄨ (toneless final syllable variant)
  - Tongyong Pinyin: jianghů
  - Wade–Giles: chiang¹-hu⁵
  - Yale: jyāng-hu
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jiang.hwu
  - Palladius: цзянху (czjanxu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯ɑŋ⁵⁵ xu³⁵/ → /t͡ɕi̯ɑŋ⁵⁵ xu²/
  - Homophones:
    [Show/Hide]
    ^edit
    ^edit
    江湖
    漿糊 / 浆糊

Note: Toneless - usually the sense of “man of experience”.

Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: gong¹ wu⁴
  - Yale: gōng wùh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: gong¹ wu⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: gong¹ wu⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɔːŋ⁵⁵ wuː²¹/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kông-fù
  - Hakka Romanization System: gong^ˊ fu^ˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: gong¹ fu²
  - Sinological IPA: /koŋ²⁴ fu¹¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kang-ô͘
  - Tâi-lô: kang-ôo
  - Phofsit Daibuun: kang'oo
  - IPA (Xiamen): /kaŋ⁴⁴⁻²² ɔ²⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /kaŋ³³ ɔ²⁴/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /kaŋ⁴⁴⁻²² ɔ¹³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /kaŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ ɔ²⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /kaŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ ɔ²³/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: gang¹ ou⁵
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: kang ôu
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kaŋ³³⁻²³ ou⁵⁵/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ¹kaon-wu
  - MiniDict: kaon^平 wu
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹kaan-hhu
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /kɑ̃⁵⁵ ɦu²¹/

Middle Chinese: kaewng hu

Rime
Character	江	湖
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	見 (28)	匣 (33)
Final (韻)	江 (9)	模 (23)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	II	I
Fanqie	古雙切	戸吳切
Baxter	kaewng	hu
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kˠʌŋ/	/ɦuo/
Pan Wuyun	/kᵚɔŋ/	/ɦuo/
Shao Rongfen	/kɔŋ/	/ɣo/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kaɨwŋ/	/ɦɔ/
Li Rong	/kɔŋ/	/ɣo/
Wang Li	/kɔŋ/	/ɣu/
Bernhard Karlgren	/kɔŋ/	/ɣuo/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	jiāng	hú
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gong¹	wu⁴

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*kˤroŋ [ɡ]ˤa/

(Zhengzhang): /*kroːŋ ɡaː/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	江	湖
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	jiāng	hú
Middle Chinese	‹ kæwng ›	‹ hu ›
Old Chinese	/*kˁroŋ/	/*[ɡ]ˁa/
English	(Yangzi) river	lake
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. [t] as coda may in fact be -t or -p; Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	江	湖
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	3995	4247
Phonetic component	工	古
Rime group	東	魚
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	江	胡
Old Chinese	/*kroːŋ/	/*ɡaː/

Noun

江湖

(literally) rivers and lakes
- 泉涸，魚相與處於陸，相呴以溼，相濡以沫，不如相忘於江湖。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
  泉涸，鱼相与处于陆，相呴以湿，相濡以沫，不如相忘于江湖。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
  From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuries BCE
  Quán hé, yú xiāngyǔ chǔ yú lù, xiāng xǔ yǐ shī, xiāng rú yǐ mò, bùrú xiāngwàng yú jiānghú. [Pinyin]
  When the springs are dried up, the fishes collect together on the land. Than that they should moisten one another there by the damp about them, and keep one another wet by their slime, it would be better for them to forget one another in the rivers and lakes.
(figuratively) all corners of the country; (around) the whole country
(figuratively) society, community
(figuratively) wandering life; private and plebian domain beyond the control of the government; underworld
(figuratively) place of residence of a hermit; reclusive place
(figuratively) vagrant; itinerant (entertainer, quack doctor, swindler etc.)
(figuratively) old experienced person; man of experience

Derived terms

人在江湖，身不由己
江湖好漢 / 江湖好汉
江湖義氣 / 江湖义气
江湖藝人 / 江湖艺人
江湖術士 / 江湖术士
江湖術語 / 江湖术语
江湖道義 / 江湖道义
江湖郎中
江湖醫生 / 江湖医生 (jiānghú yīshēng)
江湖騙子 / 江湖骗子 (jiānghú piànzi)
浪跡江湖 / 浪迹江湖
笑傲江湖
老江湖 (lǎojiānghu)
走江湖 (zǒu jiānghu)
跑江湖
重出江湖 (chóngchūjiānghú)
重現江湖 / 重现江湖
闖江湖 / 闯江湖

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (江湖):

→ Japanese: 江湖(こうこ) (kōko)
→ Korean: 강호(江湖) (gangho)
→ Vietnamese: giang hồ (江湖)

→ English: jiang hu

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
江	湖
こう Grade: S	こ Grade: 3
on'yomi	kan'on

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ko̞ːko̞]

Noun

江(こう)湖(こ) • (kōko) ^{←かうこ (kauko)^?}

the rivers and lakes
the secular world, the world outside the court
Synonyms: 世の中 (yononaka), 天下 (tenka)
(Buddhism) a retreat

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
江	湖
ごう Grade: S	こ Grade: 3
kan'yōon	kan'on

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ɡo̞ːko̞]

Noun

江(ごう)湖(こ) • (gōko) ^{←がうこ (gauko)^?}

the rivers and lakes
(Buddhism) short for 江湖僧 (gōkosō)
(Buddhism) short for 江湖会 (gōkoe)