rivers and lakes; all corners of the country; remote areas to which hermits retreat; section of society operating independently of mainstream society, out of reach of the law; the milieu in which wuxia tales play out (cf. 武俠|武侠[wǔ​xiá]); (in late imperial times) world of traveling merchants, itinerant doctors, fortune tellers etc; demimonde; (in modern times) triads; secret gangster societies; underworld