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{{Short description|Chinese mythological creatures}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| pic = NineTailsFox.JPG
| c = {{Linktext|狐狸精}}
| l = fox spirit
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|h|u|2|-|l|i|-|j|ing|1}}
| p = húlijīng
| j = wu⁴lei⁴zing¹
| y = 
| gan = 
| wuu = 
| poj = hô͘-lî-chiaⁿ
| h = 
| mc = 
| kanji = 妖狐
| hiragana = ようこ
| romaji = yōko
| hangul = 요호
| mr = yoho
| hanja = 妖狐
| rr = yoho
| qn = hồ ly tinh
| chuhan = 狐狸精
}}

'''Fox spirits''', or '''Huli jing''' ({{zh|c=狐狸精}}), are [[Chinese mythology|Chinese mythological]] creatures usually capable of [[shapeshifting]], who may either be benevolent or malevolent spirits. In Chinese mythology and folklore, the fox spirit takes variant forms with different meanings, powers, characteristics, and shapes, including {{zhp|p=[[huxian]]|c=狐仙|l=fox immortal}}, {{zhp|p=hushen|c=狐神|l=fox god}}, {{zhp|p=husheng|c=狐聖|l=fox saint}}, {{zhp|p=huwang|c=狐王|l=fox king}}, {{zhp|p=huyao|c=狐妖|l=fox demon}}, {{zhp|p=huzu|c=狐族|l=fox clan}}, and {{zhp|p=jiuweihu|c=九尾狐|l=[[nine-tailed fox]]|labels=no}}.{{sfnp|Kang|2006}}{{page needed|date=July 2022}}

Fox spirits and nine-tailed foxes appear frequently in Chinese folklore, literature, and mythology. Depending on the story, the fox spirit's presence may be a good or a bad omen.<ref>{{harvp|Kang|2006|pp= 15–21}}</ref> The motif of nine-tailed foxes from Chinese culture was eventually transmitted and introduced to Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese cultures.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wallen|first1=Martin|title=Fox|url=https://archive.org/details/foxreaktionbooks00wall|url-access=limited|date=2006|publisher=[[Reaktion Books]]|location=London|isbn=978-1-86189-297-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/foxreaktionbooks00wall/page/n70 69]–70}}</ref>

==Descriptions==
[[File:Yanju's tomb, nine-tailed fox.jpg|thumb|Painting of a fox spirit from Yanju's tomb, Gansu Province. Older depictions of fox spirits depict the eight other tails as branching out from the main tail rather than being separate tails of their own.]]

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 fourth to circa first century BC).<ref name=shanstr02/> The work states:

{{blockquote|{{lang|zh|靑丘國在其北其人食五穀衣絲帛其狐四足九尾。}}<br/>The [[Cheonggu|Land of Blue Hills]] lies to the north where the inhabitants consume the [[Five Grains]], wear [[silk]] and worship foxes that have four legs and nine tails.|title=[[Shanhaijing]]}}

In chapter 14 of the ''Shanhaijing'', [[Guo Pu]], a scholar of the [[Eastern Jin dynasty]], had commented that the "nine-tailed fox was an auspicious omen that appeared during times of peace."<ref name=shanstr02/> However, in chapter 1, another aspect of the nine-tailed fox is described:

{{blockquote|Three hundred li farther east is [[Cheonggu|Qingqiu]] 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 (poison)|gu]]).<ref name=shanstr02>{{harvp|Strassberg|2002|pp=88–89 & 184}}</ref>}}

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.<ref name=shanstr02/> In Han iconography, the nine-tailed fox is sometimes depicted at [[Kunlun (mythology)|Mount Kunlun]] and along with [[Xi Wangmu]] in her role as the goddess of immortality.<ref name=shanstr02/> According to the first-century ''Baihutong'' (''Debates in the White Tiger Hall''), the fox's nine tails symbolize abundant progeny.<ref name=shanstr02/>

During the [[Han dynasty]] (202 BC – 9 AD; 25–220 AD), the development of ideas about interspecies transformation had taken place in Chinese culture.<ref name=hunt3-9/> The idea that non-human creatures with advancing age could assume human form is presented in works such as the ''[[Lunheng]]'' by [[Wang Chong]] (27–91).<ref name=hunt3-9/> As these traditions developed, the fox's capacity for transformation was shaped.<ref name=hunt3-9>{{harvp|Huntington|2003|p=9}}</ref>

Describing the transformation and other features of the fox, [[Guo Pu]] (276–324) made the following comment:
{{blockquote|When a fox is fifty years old, it can transform itself into a woman; when a hundred years old, it becomes a beautiful woman, or a spirit medium, or an adult man 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.<ref>{{harvp|Kang|2006|p=17}}</ref>}}

In ''Duìsúpiān'' (對俗篇) of the ''[[Baopuzi]]'', it is written:
{{blockquote|Foxes and [[dhole]]s both can be eight hundred years of age, and when they are five hundred years old, they become enlightened and are able to take up human form.
{{lang|zh|狐貍、豺狼皆壽八百歲，滿五百歲，則善變為人形。}}}}

In a Tang Dynasty story, foxes could become humans by wearing a skull and worshipping the [[Big Dipper]]. They would try multiple skulls until they found one that fit without falling off.<ref name="Kang no page">{{harvp|Kang|2006}}{{pages needed|date=October 2019}}</ref>

[[File:Imperial Encyclopaedia - Animal Kingdom - pic176 - 九尾狐圖.png|thumb|Qing Dynasty depiction of the fox spirit.]]
The ''[[Youyang Zazu]]'' made a connection between nine-tailed foxes and the divine: 
{{blockquote|Among the arts of the Way, there is a specific doctrine of the celestial fox. &#91;The doctrine&#93; 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.<ref>{{harvp|Kang|2006|p=23}}</ref>}}

The fox spirits encountered in tales and legends are usually females and appear as young, beautiful women. One of the most infamous fox spirits in Chinese mythology was [[Daji]], who is portrayed in the [[Ming Dynasty]] [[shenmo]] novel ''[[Fengshen Yanyi]]''. A beautiful daughter of a general, she was married forcibly to the cruel tyrant [[King Zhou of Shang]]. A nine-tailed fox spirit who served [[Nüwa]], whom King Zhou had offended, entered into and possessed her body, expelling the true Daji's soul. The spirit, as Daji, and her new husband schemed cruelly and invented many devices of torture, such as forcing righteous officials to hug red-hot metal pillars.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://turandot.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/Textual.php?ID=190&CF=1&Fa=5 |title=Fox-spirit Daji invents the Paoluo torture |access-date=2006-12-26 |website=Chinese Torture/Supplice chinois |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061117155322/http://turandot.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/Textual.php?ID=190&CF=1&Fa=5 |archive-date=2006-11-17 }}</ref> Because of such cruelties, many people, including King Zhou's own former generals, revolted and fought against the [[Shang dynasty]]. Finally, [[King Wen of Zhou]], one of the vassals of Shang, founded a new dynasty named after his country. The fox spirit in Daji's body was later driven out by [[Jiang Ziya]], the first Prime Minister of the [[Zhou dynasty]], and her spirit condemned by Nüwa herself for excessive cruelty.

==Traditions==
Popular fox worship during the Tang dynasty has been mentioned in a text entitled ''Hu Shen'' (Fox gods): 
{{blockquote|Since the beginning of the Tang, many commoners have worshiped fox spirits. They make offerings in their bedchambers to beg for their favor. The foxes share people's food and drink. They do not serve a single master. At the time there was a figure of speech saying, "Where there is no fox demon, no village can be established."<ref>{{harvp|Huntington|2003|p=14}}</ref>}}

In the [[Song dynasty]], fox spirit cults, such as those dedicated to [[Daji]], became outlawed, but their suppression was unsuccessful.<ref>{{harvp|Kang|2006|pp=37–39}}</ref> For example, in 1111, an imperial edict was issued for the destruction of many spirit shrines within [[Kaifeng]], including those of Daji.<ref>{{cite book| last1=Lin|first1=Fu-shih |title=Modern Chinese Religion I| isbn=978-90-04-27164-7| pages=262–263| chapter="Old Customs and New Fashions": An Examination of Features of Shamanism in Song China| location=Leiden |publisher=Brill|date=2014-12-08 }}</ref>

On the eve of the Jurchen invasion, a fox went to the throne of [[Emperor Huizong of Song]]. So Huizong ordered the destruction of all fox temples in Kaifeng. The city was invaded the next day, and the dynasty fell after five months.<ref name="Kang no page" />

In late imperial China, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, disruptions in the domestic environment could be attributed to the mischief of fox spirits, which could throw or tear apart objects in a manner similar to a poltergeist.{{sfnp|Huntington|2003|p={{page needed|date=September 2021}}}} "Hauntings" by foxes were often regarded as both commonplace and essentially harmless, with one seventeenth-century author commenting that "Out of every ten houses in the capital, six or seven have fox demons, but they do no harm and people are used to them".{{sfnp|Huntington|2003|p=92}}

Typically, fox spirits were seen as dangerous, but some of the stories in the Qing dynasty book ''[[Liaozhai Zhiyi]]'' by [[Pu Songling]] are love stories between a young boy and a fox appearing as a beautiful girl. In the fantasy novel ''[[The Three Sui Quash the Demons' Revolt]]'', a huli jing teaches a young girl magic, enabling her to conjure armies with her spells.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lu|first=Xun|translator=Hsien-yi Yang|translator2=Gladys Yang|title=A Brief History of Chinese Fiction|year=1959|publisher=Foreign Language Press|page=176|isbn=978-7-119-05750-7|title-link=A Brief History of Chinese Fiction}}</ref>

Belief in fox spirits has also been implicated as an explanatory factor in the incidence of attacks of ''[[Koro (medicine)|koro]]'', a [[culture-bound syndrome]] found in southern China and Malaysia in particular.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Cheng |first=S. T. |title=A critical review of Chinese ''Koro'' |journal=Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=67–82 |year=1996|doi=10.1007/BF00118751 |pmid=8740959 |s2cid=34630225 }}</ref>

There is mention of the fox spirit in [[Chinese Chán]] Buddhism, when [[Linji Yixuan]] compares them to voices that speak of the [[Dharma]], stating "the immature young monks, not understanding this, believe in these fox-spirits..."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Record of Linji |location=Honolulu |year=2008 |page=218}}</ref>

Fox spirits were thought to be able to disguise themselves as women.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Carlson |first=Kathie |title=The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images |last2=Flanagin |first2=Michael N. |last3=Martin |first3=Kathleen |last4=Martin |first4=Mary E. |last5=Mendelsohn |first5=John |last6=Rodgers |first6=Priscilla Young |last7=Ronnberg |first7=Ami |last8=Salman |first8=Sherry |last9=Wesley |first9=Deborah A. |publisher=[[Taschen]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-8365-1448-4 |editor-last=Arm |editor-first=Karen |location=Köln |page=280 |editor-last2=Ueda |editor-first2=Kako |editor-last3=Thulin |editor-first3=Anne |editor-last4=Langerak |editor-first4=Allison |editor-last5=Kiley |editor-first5=Timothy Gus |editor-last6=Wolff |editor-first6=Mary}}</ref> In this guise, they seduced young men who were scholars or merely intelligent to absorb "life essence through their semen".<ref name=":0" /> This allowed them to actually turn into humans, then ''[[huxian]]'', and then, after 1,000 years, a [[nine-tailed fox]] [[Deity|god]] which was able to navigate through higher realms of ''tiān''.<ref name=":0" />

A handful of ''Huli jing'' also appear in Wu Cheng'en's late 16th-century novel, the Journey to the West:
* A brother-sister pair appear in the story arc covering the demon brothers, [[List of Journey to the West characters#Golden and Silver Horned Kings and associates|Golden-Horn and Silver-Horn]], introduced as the demon brother's venerable mother and maternal uncle, respectively.
* In the story arc covering [[Princess Iron Fan]], it is revealed that Princess Iron Fan's husband, the [[Bull Demon King]], has left her for Princess Jade Countenance, a ''Huli jing'' demoness, who lured the Bull Demon King away from Princess Iron Fan with her massive [[dowry]].
* In the story arc concerning Pilgrims while they are passing through the Kingdom of Biqiu, the ''White Deer Spirit'' and his adopted daughter, the ''White-Faced Vixen Spirit'' (also a ''Huli jing'' demoness), are plaguing the unwitting king, who had married the ''White-Faced Vixen Spirit'' while she posed as a mortal woman and the ''White Deer Spirit'' as her mortal father; the ''White-Faced Vixen Spirit'' is later slain by [[Zhu Bajie]].

The fox cult survived in northern China in the 20th century, but was suppressed during the anti-superstition [[Socialist Education Movement|Socialist Education Campaign]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-03-05 |title=In China, the fox cult lives on - Taipei Times |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2006/03/05/2003295907 |access-date=2024-07-10 |website=www.taipeitimes.com}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
===Anime/Manga===
* ''[[YuYu Hakusho]]'' (1990)
* ''[[Inuyasha]]'' (1996)
* ''[[Naruto]]'' (1999) and its sequels ''[[Naruto: Shippuden]]'' (2007) and ''[[Boruto: Naruto Next Generations]]'' (2017)
* ''[[Natsume's Book of Friends]]'' (2003)
* ''[[xxxHolic]]'' (2003)
* ''[[Our Home's Fox Deity]]'' (2004)
* ''[[Inukami!]]'' (2005)
* ''[[Kamisama Kiss]]'' (2008)
* ''[[Inu × Boku SS]]'' (2009)
* ''[[Fox Spirit Matchmaker]]'' (2015)
* ''[[Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits]]'' (2016)
* ''[[The Helpful Fox Senko-san]]'' (2017)

=== Film ===
* ''[[Mr. Vampire IV]]'' (1988)
* ''[[Painted Skin (2008 film)|Painted Skin]]'' (2008) and [[Painted Skin: The Resurrection|its sequel]] (2012)
* ''[[A Chinese Ghost Story (2011 film)|A Chinese Fairy Tale]]'' (2011)
* ''[[League of Gods]]'' (2016)
* ''[[Once Upon a Time (2017 Chinese film)|Once Upon a Time]]'' (2017)
* ''[[Hanson and the Beast]]'' (2017)
* ''[[The Legend of Hei]]'' (2019)
* ''[[Jiang Ziya (film)|Jiang Ziyia]]'' (2020)
* ''[[Soul Snatcher]]'' (2020)
* ''[[Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings]]'' (2021)
* ''[[Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms]]'' (2023)
* [[Nimona (film)|Nimona]] (2023)

=== TV series ===
* ''The Legend of Nezha'' {{Lang|zh|哪吒传奇}} (2003)
* ''Strange Tales of Liao Zhai'' {{Lang|zh|新聊斋志异}} (2005)
* ''[[The Legend and the Hero]]'' (2007) and [[The Legend and the Hero 2|its sequel]] (2009)
* ''[[Gu Family Book]]'' 구가의 서 (2013)
* ''[[The Investiture of the Gods (2014 TV series)|The Investiture of the Gods]]'' (2014) and ''The Investiture of the Gods 2'' (2015)
* ''[[Legend of Nine Tails Fox]]'' (2016)
* ''Fox in the Screen'' {{Lang|zh|屏里狐}} (2016)
* ''[[Eternal Love (TV series)|Eternal Love]]''  (2017)
* ''[[Moonshine and Valentine]]'' (2017)
* ''Beauties in the Closet'' {{Lang|zh|柜中美人}} (2018)
* ''[[Investiture of the Gods (2019 TV series)|Investiture of the Gods]]'' (2019)
* ''[[Love, Death & Robots]]'' Episode 8 (2019)
* ''The Life of White Fox'' {{Lang|zh|白狐的人生}} (2019)
* ''[[Eternal Love of Dream]]'' (2020)
* ''Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries'' Season 1 Episode 6 (2012)
* ''[[Tale of the Nine Tailed]]'' (2020)
* ''[[My Roommate Is a Gumiho]]'' (2021)
* ''[[Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938]]'' (2023)

=== Books ===
* ''Shanghai Immortal'' by A.Y. Chao (2023)
* ''The Sacred Book of the Werewolf''  by Victor Pelevin (2004)
* “The Fox Wife” by Yangsze Choo (2024)
* ''Sacrificial Animals'' by Kailee Pedersen (2024)

=== Music ===
* ''The Good Kid and the Fox Spirit'' {{lang|ja|イイコと妖狐}}, a song by Kikuo (2023)
* ''[[Fright Song|Monster High Fright Song ft. KATSEYE]]'', a music video made as part of the Monster High Franchise (2025)

=== Games ===
* ''Yae Miko'' from [[Genshin Impact]]
* Ninetails from [[Ōkami]]
* [[List of generation I Pokémon#Ninetales|Ninetales]], [[List of generation V Pokémon#Zoroark|Zoroark]], and [[List of generation VI Pokémon#Delphox|Delphox]] from [[Pokémon (video game series)|Pokemon]]
* Shizuku from ''Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation''

==See also==
*[[Daji]], a well-known character who was a fox spirit in the ''[[Fengshen Yanyi]]''
*[[Hồ ly tinh]], a similar fox spirit from Vietnam
*[[Huxian]], the fox immortals, highly cultivated fox spirits in Chinese tradition
*[[Kitsune]], the Japanese version
*[[Kumiho]], the Korean version
*[[Nine-tailed fox]], the most well-known fox spirit in Chinese mythology
*''[[Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio]]'', a compilation of supernatural stories of which many have fox spirits as a theme
*[[Tian]], the realm some fox spirits were thought to be able to go to

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Literature==
*{{cite book|last1=Chan|first1=Leo Tak-hung|title=The Discourse on Foxes and Ghosts: Ji Yun and Eighteenth-Century Literati Storytelling|date=1998|publisher=Chinese University of Hong Kong|location=Hong Kong|isbn=978-962-201-749-8 }}
*{{cite book|last1=Huntington|first1=Rania|title=Alien Kind: Foxes and Late Imperial Chinese Narrative|date=2003|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-674-01094-9 }}
*{{cite book|last1=Kang|first1=Xiaofei|title=The Cult of the Fox: Power, Gender, and Popular Religion in Late Imperial and Modern China|date=2006|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-231-13338-8 }}
* {{cite book| last1=Strassberg| first1=Richard E.| title=A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways through Mountains and Seas| date=2002| publisher=University of California Press| location=Berkeley| isbn=978-0-520-21844-4 }}
* Ting, Nai-tung. "A Comparative Study of Three Chinese and North-American Indian Folktale Types." Asian Folklore Studies 44, no. 1 (1985): 42–43. Accessed July 1, 2020. doi:10.2307/1177982. 
*Anatole, Alex. "Tao of Celestial Foxes -The Way to Immortality" Volumes I, II, III)(2015)

==External links==
*[http://academia.issendai.com/fox-index.shtml Fox Spirits in Asia]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111130025206/http://www.dxx99.com/sz_bfdmjxyhx.htm {{lang|zh|北方的民间信仰-狐仙}}]
{{Chinese mythology}}
{{Inari Faith}}

[[Category:Chinese legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Yaoguai]]
[[Category:Fairies]]
[[Category:Inari faith]]
[[Category:Kitsune (fox)|-]]
[[Category:Mythological canines]]
[[Category:Mythological foxes]]
[[Category:Shapeshifters]]
[[Category:Animals in Chinese mythology]]