Etymology of 山賊


The contrastive pair made by 山賊 (brigand) and 海賊 (pirate) works pretty well on
a mountainous island, where there are few other places for banditry. But if
the words are of Chinese origin, this symmetry works less well (China had
plains and probably brigands there too). So is this contrast between 山 and 海 a
mere coincidence?

