Nine-tail Fox 九尾狐 (jiǔ wěi hú)

Watercolor and Alcohol Markers, 2020
Wen Ting Dong 董文婷

The Nine-tail Fox is one of the most well known Chinese mythical creatures in today’s popular culture, and its figure has appeared in many other East Asian countries, including Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. It was described as a four-legged fox with nine tails and white pelt that lives in the Qingqiu (青丘, means green hills) mountains. Its cry sounds like that of an infant, and it occasionally eats humans, but if a human consumes the flesh of the nine-tail fox, he or she will forever be immune to the deeds of evil spirits.  Foxes are often seen as clever and mischievous in Chinese culture, and they are known to have the best understanding of human spirituality of all animals. Records of Nine-tailed foxes date all the way back to the Qin dynasty in China, where it is depicted as a benevolent beast that brings good luck to the ruling power of the emperor. During this time, these foxes are considered a good omen for lovers and couples, symbolizing successful romantic relationships. But after the Northern Song dynasty, the reputation of the Nine-tailed fox turned sour. They were said to shapeshift into beautiful seducing women who enchanted men away from their duties while they sucked the life energy out of them. The most famous Chinese legend of the Nine-tailed fox was named Da Ji (妲己) who bewitched King Zhou of Shang (商纣王), causing him to not care about his country and duties, wasting way the power of his country to please her, and ultimately caused the fall of the Shang dynasty. 

Fun Fact -  Some legends had that the Nine-tailed Fox Da Ji was said to escape from China to Japan. There she changed her name into Tamamo-no-Mae and became a concubine of Japanese Emperor Toba. She repeated what she did to King Zhou of Shang, causing Emperor Toba to fall ill. Her acts were discovered this time, and she was either killed or, as other legends claim, escaped again to other Asian countries.