page_title: Foxes in popular culture, films and literature
section_title: East Asia
hierarchical_section_title: Foxes in popular culture, films and literature / In folklore and wisdom / East Asia
context_page_description: The fox appears in the folklore of many cultures, but especially European and East Asian, as a figure of cunning, trickery, or a familiar animal possessed of magic powers. The fox is also sometimes associated with transformation. This folkore is found in literature, film, television, games, and music, and elsewhere.
  The term "foxy" in English can also connote attractiveness, sexiness, or being red-haired. The term "to outfox" means "to beat in a competition of wits", similarly to "outguess", "outsmart", and "outwit".
context_section_description: In Classic of Mountains and Seas (edited by Liu Xiang in Han Dynasty and probably composed by people before Qin Dynasty), foxes eat people, and predicts war.
  In Chinese, Japanese, and Korean folklores, foxes (huli jing in China, kitsune in Japan, and kumiho in Korea) are powerful spirits that are known for their highly mischievous and cunning nature, and they often take on the form of female humans to seduce men. In contemporary Chinese, the word huli jing is often used to describe a mistress negatively in an extramarital affair. In Shinto of Japan, kitsune sometimes helps people as an errand of their deity, Inari.
caption: Prince Hanzoku terrorized by a nine-tailed kitsune (fox spirit). Print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 19th century.
exif: {}