Does 道上的人物 represent anything special?

Question

xxx 也是道上的人物...

Does "道上" mean something like "a good and legal path" while "道下" (not sure if even this is a word) means "the illegal ways"?

Answer 1

Here 道 means 黑道, 黑社会 (underworld). So xxx 也是道上的人物 means xxx is the member of some underworld organization.

道下 is not a word.

Answer 2

Here,道 means the way people earn their living.It's 白道 if the way is legal and 黑道 if the way is illegal,and 道上的 is a adj phrase which only be used to describe someone having background of gangdom. We don't use 道下的，but you can use the phrase 守法的 if you want to describe person who earn his living legally.