Wuxi

Wuxi (Chinese: 无锡) is an old city in southern Jiangsu province, China.

Split in half by Lake Tai, Wuxi borders Changzhou to the west and Suzhou to the east. The Yangtze River lies between the northern half of Wuxi and Taizhou, while the southern half of the city borders the province of Zhejiang. Wuxi is also famous for being one of the birthplaces of China's modern industry and commerce, as well as the hometown of many important businessmen who have played essential roles in building commerce in Shanghai since the early 20th century.

Name

The modern name consists of the Chinese characters 无 ("without, lacking") and 锡 ("tin") and simply means "No tin". According to a traditional story, during the warring states period, soldiers were stationed in Wuxi on Xishan ("tin hill"). While burying a pot to prepare food, a soldier found a stone plaque engraved with the words "If there is tin there is an army, conflict under heaven. If there is no tin (wuxi), there is peace, quiet under heaven." According to the story, Wuxi's name comes from this inscription.

Wuxia

Wuxia (武俠, IPA: [ùɕjǎ]), which literally means "martial hero", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although wuxia is traditionally a form of literature, its popularity has caused it to spread to diverse art forms such as Chinese opera, manhua, films, television series and video games. It forms part of popular culture in many Chinese-speaking communities around the world.

The word "wuxia" is a compound composed of the elements wu (lit. "martial", "military", or "armed") and xia (lit. "honourable", "chivalrous", or "hero"). A martial artist who follows the code of xia is often referred to as a xiake (lit. "follower of xia") or youxia (lit. "wandering xia"). In some translations, the martial artist is referred to as a "swordsman" or "swordswoman" even though he or she may not necessarily wield a sword.

The heroes in wuxia fiction typically do not serve a lord, wield military power or belong to the aristocratic class. They often originate from the lower social classes of ancient Chinese society. A code of chivalry usually requires wuxia heroes to right and redress wrongs, fight for righteousness, remove oppressors, and bring retribution for past misdeeds. Chinese xia traditions can be compared to martial codes from other cultures such as the Japanese samurai's bushido tradition.

Wuxi (disambiguation)

Wuxi may refer to: