The Nine Tailed Fox, a mythical creature in China, comes from the mountain and sea classics compiled during the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period. “Nanshan classic” says: “there are animals in the green hills. They look like foxes with nine tails In ancient times, there was a myth that Dayu of the Xia nationality married a woman of the Tushan nationality. One mysterious object involved was the Nine Tailed white fox. In addition, the legend of the Nine Tailed Fox also spread to Japan and the Korean Peninsula. It is said that the fox’s tail is used to store Reiki. When the fox absorbs enough Reiki, the tail will be divided into two and eventually split into nine tails. When a fox has nine tails, it will have an immortal body. In ancient mythology, the Nine Tailed Fox is the auspicious sign of peace. In the Han Dynasty, the idea of Fu Ming prevailed. Therefore, the Nine Tailed Fox, which was originally a totem God, was also symbolized by Fu Ming and became a mysterious symbol of auspiciousness. The Nine Tailed Fox was demonized in the early Northern Song Dynasty at the latest. The following China story net Xiaobian will bring you a detailed introduction. Let’s have a look!
Nine Tailed Fox, black fox and white fox first appeared in totem belief of primitive religion. The book of mountains and seas records the Nine Tailed Fox on the green hill. Reading these ancient records, the Nine Tailed Fox is actually a totem of the primitive tribe in Qingqiu, which is located in the east or south. The Shanhaijing says that it “can eat people”, indicating that it has divinity in threatening the enemy and protecting the security of its tribe. It is also said that “the eater does not poison” — eating its meat can be protected from evil spirits. This is obviously a primitive witchcraft related to the totem belief of the Nine Tailed Fox. It is believed that the Nine Tailed Fox has the magic power to ward off evil spirits.
In ancient times, there was a myth that Dayu of the Xia nationality married a woman of the Tushan nationality. One mysterious object involved was the Nine Tailed white fox. According to the lost articles in Lu’s spring and Autumn Annals cited in Wu Yue spring and autumn ยท the king of Yue Wu Yu’s no more biography by Zhao Ye of the Eastern Han Dynasty and in volume 99 of art and literature gathering, Dayu came to Tushan. According to the examination, he met a Nine Tailed white fox in Song County, Henan Province, and heard the people of Tushan singing, “suisui white fox, Pang Pang Nine Tailed”. If you “start a family and a family here”, you will have a son, sun Changsheng. So Dayu married a girl of Tushan’s family, called nvjiao. Since the myth was recorded very late, it was obviously added to the ideological and cultural concepts of later generations. If it was restored to its original appearance, Dayu would have married nine white foxes in Tushan. The cultural significance hidden behind this myth of human animal marriage is that the Tu Shan clan is a tribe with Nine Tailed foxes as its totem, and the Nine Tailed white foxes are regarded as their ancestors by the Tu Shan clan. Because the Nine Tailed Fox has such a beautiful thing, the fox spirits of future generations always like to proudly say that they are the descendants of Tu Shan, showing off the nobility of their lineage.
In the Han Dynasty, the idea of Fu Ming prevailed, so the Nine Tailed Fox, which was originally a totem God, was also Fu Ming and became a mysterious symbol of auspiciousness.
In the history of Chinese fox culture, a misfortune of the Fox also occurred in the Han Dynasty, that is, it was demonized. Under the influence of the idea of “old things are strange”, ordinary foxes everywhere are no better than dragons, phoenixes and unicorns, and it is difficult to keep their sacred status. Although the worship of fox God and heavenly fox was popular in the Tang Dynasty, it was already a demon God. Since it was a demon God, it was not as serious as a positive God. It could not help acting recklessly, just like the sun monkey before the positive results. However, in the concept of the people in the Tang Dynasty, the most powerful Tianhu – Jiuwei Tianhu still maintained a decent demeanor. It is a pity that the glorious history of the Nine Tailed Fox will end after all, only because it has the greatest magical power, which is later than other foxes. It is also because it has the greatest magical power, and when it is demonized, it will become the most demonic fox spirit.
The Nine Tailed Fox was demonized in the early Northern Song Dynasty at the latest. According to Tian Kuang’s “public opinion of the scholars”, chenpengnian was cunning and good at “seducing” the emperor during the reign of emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty, so “the eyes of the people at that time were nine tailed foxes”. It can be seen that the Nine Tailed foxes are no longer auspicious or divine foxes in people’s minds, but have become bad things. At that time, a famous woman in ancient Chinese history was called a Nine Tailed Fox and spread to Japan. This was Daji, the concubine of King Zhou of Shang Dynasty. In the volume of Japanese “the literary essence of this dynasty”, there is an article “the fox’s charm” written by Jiang Dafu, which says that “yinzhidaji is a Nine Tailed Fox”.
The story of foxy charm records the three years (1101) of Kanghe in Japan, which is equivalent to the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty. It can be seen that this view has been used in China before. In fact, Bai Juyi of the Tang Dynasty has compared Daji, who “can mourn others and cover the country”, and Baosi, the concubine of King Zhou you, to a fox demon. When the Nine Tailed Fox became a fairy, Daji, the princess who seduced King Zhou into subjugation and death with beauty, was said to be a Nine Tailed Fox demon, which is a natural thing.
The Nine Tailed Fox disguised as Daji became the Nine Tailed Fox Spirit, which can be said to be the perfect combination of super fox demons. The description in the novel began with the Yuan Dynasty history telling script “the book of King Wu’s attack on Zhou”, and then was widely and greatly expanded by the Ming Dynasty long chapter novel “the romance of gods”.
In the book of King Wu’s attack on Zhou, the “Nine Tailed Golden Fox” absorbed Daji’s soul and marrow and transformed into Daji through its empty skin. Daji’s ending was that after King Ke Yin, Jiang Taigong forced her to show her original shape with a demon subduing mirror, and then put her into a bag and rammed her to death with a wooden pestle. The reason why it took so many twists and turns was that the executioner who executed her could not be provoked by her “thousands of demon eyes”.
On the basis of the book of King Wu’s slaying Zhou, the romance of apotheosis gives full play to the seductive nature of Daji, the Nine Tailed Fox Spirit for thousands of years, and describes many bad things she has done. On the contrary, King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty was not so bad for his “ability and civil and military skills”. Besides, there were loyal ministers and good generals outside and virtuous empress Shufei inside. Originally, the country was very stable. It was this millennium Nine Tailed Fox Spirit with nine pheasants and chicken essence and jade Pipa essence that confused him so that he lost his “authenticity”. Interestingly, Daji also had a charming description when he was beheaded, which is more vivid and detailed than the book of King Wu’s slaying Zhou. The novel tries to play up how she “charmed” the execution sergeants and “spread them in a pile”. Finally, Jiang Ziya took her head with a baby gourd. The image of Daji, a Nine Tailed Fox in the romance of apotheosis, pushes the ancient concept of seductive fox to the extreme, pushes the concept of Nine Tailed Fox as the most fox demon to the extreme, and also pushes the concept of female taboo and the concept of female disaster that “women have always subjugated the country”.
Later, some novels wrote about the Nine Tailed Fox. For example, the jade faced fairy in the popular novel “Fox fate” in the Qing Dynasty was the Nine Tailed jade faced black fox spirit, which was finally accepted by LV Dongbin and cut off her eight tails. The novel Nine Tailed Fox in the late Qing Dynasty did not write about fox demons but about prostitutes — prostitute hubaoyu was nicknamed Nine Tailed Fox. The novel says that the Nine Tailed Fox is the most voluptuous and charming, which is “more powerful than ordinary foxes”, so it is compared with hubaoyu, who is “a very voluptuous prostitute”. In the Qing Dynasty, the concept of “Fox and prostitute” was popular. Prostitutes are foxes. Of course, the worst prostitutes are nine tailed foxes. Disclaimer: the above content originates from the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original author. Please inform us if your original copyright is infringed, and we will delete the relevant content as soon as possible.