江湖规矩

English translation: code of honor

08:40 Feb 24, 2014
Chinese to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Sports / Fitness / Recreation / Chinese martial arts
Chinese term or phrase: 江湖规矩
The term occurs in the last sentence. But here is the context from a Middle East travelogue:

伊斯法罕给我印象最为深刻的不是可称极品的清真寺,也不是闻名遐迩的三十三孔桥,而是伊朗文化中特有的“左哈纳(Zurkhaneh)”。 左哈纳是一种集体健身的场所,起源于阿拉伯征服波斯之前,早期具 有秘密结社的性质,近代发展为强身健体和培养意志的组织。这个组织有

明确的等级和严格的纪律 :一个鼓手在场外击鼓并吟唱波斯史诗《王书》 中歌颂英雄的篇章,众人按照鼓声的节奏在队长的指挥下轮番做各种动作。

伊朗体操和使用的器械与中国武术的动作和器械全然不同。但是“左 哈纳”的社会功能和中国的武术馆却十分近似 :它们都有反对外族统治的 传统,有“江湖规矩”,也都在一定程度上受当权者的操控。
BruceHumes (X)
Taiwan
Local time: 15:10
English translation:code of honor
Explanation:
Can't be too generic here. We are talking about a martial sub-culture, so it's not just a set of business best practices!

These are taboos and obligations, like killing your female relatives if they get raped. House rules? Common practice? It's more about "honor", how to gain it, how to give it, and how to keep it.
Selected response from:

mitpaladin
Singapore
Local time: 15:10
Grading comment
Definitely the best of the bunch for my purposes. But I enjoyed reading everyone's comments, particularly re: "pugilistic customs."
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +2code of honor
mitpaladin
5Rules of the house/House Rules
Lincoln Hui
4common practice
Sharon Toh, MITI MCIL
4internal rules
Shang
3 +1pugilistic customs
Teng Beng Wah
3discipline and mystique
Phil Hand


  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
common practice


Explanation:
This is what comes to my mind right now and probably what I'd say if I were to translate it. To me, 江湖规矩 is basically referring to the common practice in any field or area. There may be better ways of saying this in English. So this is just for your reference.

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Note added at 1 hr (2014-02-24 09:59:27 GMT)
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Oops, maybe it should be common practices (in the plural), as what comes before it is 有 (have), i.e. 'have common practices'.

Sharon Toh, MITI MCIL
Singapore
Local time: 15:10
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in ChineseChinese
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
internal rules


Explanation:
左哈纳似乎可以归为clique

Shang
China
Local time: 15:10
Native speaker of: Chinese
PRO pts in category: 16
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
Rules of the house/House Rules


Explanation:
It's more or less a "house", after all.



1st RULE: You do not talk about FIGHT CLUB.

2nd RULE: You DO NOT talk about FIGHT CLUB.

3rd RULE: If someone says "stop" or goes limp, taps out the fight is over.

4th RULE: Only two guys to a fight.

5th RULE: One fight at a time.

6th RULE: No shirts, no shoes.

7th RULE: Fights will go on as long as they have to.

8th RULE: If this is your first night at FIGHT CLUB, you HAVE to fight.

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Note added at 1 hr (2014-02-24 10:40:20 GMT)
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It's slightly ambiguous whether these rules apply to individual Zurkhaneh or them as a whole. "Rules of the trade" may work in the latter case.

Lincoln Hui
Hong Kong
Local time: 15:10
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese, Native in EnglishEnglish
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7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +2
code of honor


Explanation:
Can't be too generic here. We are talking about a martial sub-culture, so it's not just a set of business best practices!

These are taboos and obligations, like killing your female relatives if they get raped. House rules? Common practice? It's more about "honor", how to gain it, how to give it, and how to keep it.

mitpaladin
Singapore
Local time: 15:10
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in ChineseChinese
PRO pts in category: 3
Grading comment
Definitely the best of the bunch for my purposes. But I enjoyed reading everyone's comments, particularly re: "pugilistic customs."

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Phil Hand
10 hrs

agree  Hamish Young
11 hrs
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18 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
discipline and mystique


Explanation:
Depends on what you want to emphasise, of course. But the context is what Zurkhaneh/wushu does in society, and the term jianghu certainly conjures up the larger mythology around wushu, rather than just the sport itself. So you could use mystique to bring that element out.
"Code" is good, though, does almost the same thing, carries strong implications of an attractive moral order.

Phil Hand
China
Local time: 15:10
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 12
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2 days 5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
pugilistic customs


Explanation:
1. pugilistic should be added in front as a modifier regardless of which answer you use, in order to bring out the meaning of 江湖

2. Customs will capture the neutral meaning of 规矩; it is neither an honor or a taboo or any rule (house or otherwise) written in black and white, just some socially-accepted practices which have evolved over time within a particular subculture. The following two sentences illustrate my explanation:

Sports Illustrated
According to the pugilistic custom of the day, a round went on until someone was floored; after an interval the fighters would mutually agree to start again.

LA times article
Foreman became heavyweight champion of the world. He was strangely miscast for the role. In spite of the massive chest, the python-like arms, the left jab that looked like a telephone pole with a glove on it, there was a gentleness about George Foreman that defied pugilistic custom. It wasn't that he lacked the killer instinct, it was just that, well, he was the kind of guy who would bring roses to the guy he was going to knock out.

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Note added at 2 days5 hrs (2014-02-26 14:11:11 GMT)
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pugilistic custom, actually, without the "s"

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Note added at 5 days (2014-03-02 04:35:42 GMT) Post-grading
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If 江湖规矩 = code of honor, 江湖道义 = ?


    Reference: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1...
    Reference: http://articles.latimes.com/1990-01-11/sports/sp-418_1_georg...
Teng Beng Wah
Singapore
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in ChineseChinese

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Sharon Toh, MITI MCIL: Yes, I agree that this is a better way of saying and that it is "just some socially-accepted practices which have evolved over time within a particular subculture" -- I understood it the same way as well. :)
2 hrs
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