Fox spirit
Huli jing (Chinese: 狐狸精) are 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 huxian (Chinese: 狐仙; lit. 'fox immortal'), hushen (狐神; 'fox god'), husheng (狐聖; 'fox saint'), huwang (狐王; 'fox king'), huyao (狐妖; 'fox demon'), huzu (狐族; 'fox clan'), and jiuweihu (九尾狐; 'nine-tailed fox').
| Fox spirit | |||||||||||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 狐狸精 | ||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | fox spirit | ||||||||||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | hồ ly tinh | ||||||||||||||||
| Chữ Hán | 狐狸精 | ||||||||||||||||
| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 妖狐 | ||||||||||||||||
| Hiragana | ようこ | ||||||||||||||||
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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. The motif of nine-tailed foxes from Chinese culture was eventually transmitted and introduced to Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese cultures.