page_title: Fox spirit
section_title: Descriptions
hierarchical_section_title: Fox spirit / Descriptions
context_page_description: The fox spirit or nine-tailed fox is a mythical fox entity originating from Chinese mythology that is a common motif in East Asian mythology.
  In East Asian folklore, foxes are depicted as a familiar spirit possessed of magic powers. These foxes are depicted as mischievous, usually tricking other people, with the ability to disguise themselves as a beautiful woman.
  "The fox spirit is an especially prolific shapeshifter, known variously as the húli jīng in China, the kitsune in Japan, and the kumiho in Korea. Although the specifics of the tales vary, these fox spirits can usually shapeshift, often taking the form of beautiful young women who attempt to seduce men, whether for mere mischief or to consume their bodies or spirits."
context_section_description: The nine-tailed fox occurs in the Shanhaijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas), compiled from the Warring States period to the Western Han period (circa 4th to circa 1st century BC). The work states: 
  "The Land of Green-Hills lies north of Tianwu. The foxes there have four legs and nine tails. According to another version, it is located north of Sunrise Valley."
  In chapter 14 of the Shanhaijing, Guo Pu had commented that the nine-tailed fox was an auspicious omen that appeared during times of peace. However, in chapter 1, another aspect of the nine-tailed fox is described: 
  "Three hundred li farther east is Green-Hills Mountain, where much jade can be found on its south slope and green cinnabar on its north. There is a beast here whose form resembles a fox with nine tails. It makes a sound like a baby and is a man-eater. Whoever eats it will be protected against insect-poison (gu)."
   In a Tang Dynasty Story, Foxes could become humans by wearing a skull and worshipping the big dipper. They would try multiple skulls till they found one that fit without falling off.
  On the eve of the Jurchen invasion, a fox went to the throne of Song Dynasty Emperor Huizong. This resulted in Huizong ordering the destruction of all fox temples in Kaifeng. The city was invaded the next day, and the dynasty fell after five months.
  In one ancient myth, Yu the Great encountered a white nine-tailed fox, which he interpreted as an auspicious sign that he would marry Nüjiao. In Han iconography, the nine-tailed fox is sometimes depicted at Mount Kunlun and along with Xi Wangmu in her role as the goddess of immortality. According to the first-century Baihutong (Debates in the White Tiger Hall), the fox's nine tails symbolize abundant progeny.
  Describing the transformation and other features of the fox, Guo Pu (276–324) made the following comment: 
  "When a fox is fifty years old, it can transform itself into a woman; when a hundred years old, it becomes a beautiful female, or a spirit medium, or an adult male who has sexual intercourse with women. Such beings are able to know things at more than a thousand miles' distance; they can poison men by sorcery, or possess and bewilder them, so that they lose their memory and knowledge; and when a fox is thousand years old, it ascends to heaven and becomes a celestial fox."
  The Youyang Zazu made a connection between nine-tailed foxes and the divine: 
  "Among the arts of the Way, there is a specific doctrine of the celestial fox. [The doctrine] says that the celestial fox has nine tails and a golden color. It serves in the Palace of the Sun and Moon and has its own fu (talisman) and a jiao ritual. It can transcend yin and yang."
caption: Prince Hanzoku terrorized by a Kyubi. Print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 19th century.
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