武俠小說的世界，有「江湖」、「綠林」、「武林」三種慣稱。「江湖」強調了它的變動性及危險性，「綠林」顯示了它的違法及不合理性，「武林」則限制了他屬於「武人」的屬性。三者各有側重，各有淵源，但唯有等量齊觀，才能真正掌握到武俠小說虛構的「江湖世界」特性。 虛構的「江湖世界」，基本上以真實存在的江湖為藍本，透過闌入、化入的手法，構築出一個自足而完滿的奇異世界，具有濃厚的理想寄託。 金庸小說的江湖世界，以教門、幫派、武學門派為三大支柱。明教、丐幫、少林三大派的凸顯，展示出金庸因襲與開創的「江湖」特色。其中尤以丐幫的忠義性質、明教的除魔化，顯示出最重大的意義。 金庸如此設計「江湖」，乃在超離的基礎上，又援引歷史為據，一方面有意展示其歷史詮釋，一方面又以隱喻的手法，將「江湖」等同於廟堂或現實社會，而據以批判及諷刺，其主要的焦點，則是「政治」隱喻。此為金庸在武俠小說上劃時代的成就。

This paper analyzes the mysterious knight-errant's world created in the works of the well-known novelist Jin Yong. Conventionally, the knight-errant's world has three different meanings: jianghu, lyulin and wulin. Jianghua means an unstable and dangerous world, lyulin a neglected and rebellious zone, and wulin a territory where the knight-errants practice their martial arts. Only an excellent novelist can employ the three different meanings of knight-errant skillfully and fairly. There are three martial arts groups commonly taking place in Jin Yong's stories--Ming Jiao the religious group, Gai Bang the beggar gang, and Shao Lin the monks from the Shao Lin Buddhist Temple. Although these three groups can be traced to the real society, the author invents various fascinating plots which bear the stamp of his ideology. Ming Jiao, Gai Bang, and Shao Lin also stand as three pillars in Jin Yong's stories. This demonstrates Jin Yong's inheritance from the tradition as well as his new inventions. The Gai Bang depicted in his works is known for its honesty and integrity, and Ming Jiao for expelling demons. Above all, the jianghu world deliberately invented in Jin Yong's novels is usually based on historic events, and these events are used as metaphors. As a result, the novelist can not only express his historic opinions, but also indirectly criticize his contemporaneous world. The author of this paper believes that the political criticism is rooted in Jin Yong's works and can be regarded as his greatest achievement.