Huli Jing

This is Fab Figmentals, the podcast that explores the realm of curious creatures, magical monsters, and beautiful beasts. I’m your host, Lindsey Morse. 

On each episode of Fab Figmentals, we dive into the folklore and history of a different legendary creature and share a story about it. 

In today’s episode, we’ll be looking at Huli Jing, Chinese nine-tailed foxes. 

According to Chinese mythology, these creatures are fox spirits that are capable of shapeshifting. There’s a belief that— under the right circumstances— all things are capable to taking on a human form, and Huli Jing are no different. They go around searing for human skulls, and if they find one that fits just right, it will allow them to transform into a beautiful woman. 

Foxes are often ascribed a certain slyness, and Huli Jing are known for their trickery. They might be benevolent or malevolent, but their presence is always perceived as an omen— it’s just not always clear if it’s a good or bad one. 

Today’s story is a little on the long side, so I want to dive right in. It’s called “Miss Lien-Hsiang,” and it was published in Songling Pu’s Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. The original publication date can be traced back to at least 1770, and the stories were translated into English by Herbert Giles and published in 1880. Foxes pop up in several of the stories, but I really like this one. I’ve made some edits for length and clarity, but the gist of the story pretty much remains the same. 

Without further ado, here’s “Miss Lien-Hsiang.”

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There once was a young man named Sang Tzŭ-ming, who lived near the Saffron market. 

One day, a young lady knocked at his door; and he beheld to his astonishment a great beauty. He asked her where she was from, and she replied that her name was Lien-hsiang, and that she lived not very far away, adding that she had long been anxious to make his acquaintance. 

She dropped in occasionally to chat; and one evening when Sang was sitting alone expecting her, a different young lady suddenly walked in. 

She was stylish and refined, about fifteen or sixteen years old. Her dress had very full sleeves, and she wore her hair in a youthful coif. She spotted Sang, and seemed uncertain whether she should stay or go.

Sang, in a great state of alarm, took her for a fox; but the young lady said, “My name is Li, and I am from a respectable family. I have heard of your virtue and talent, and I hope to be accorded the honor of your acquaintance.” Sang laughed, and took her by the hand, which he found was as cold as ice; and when he asked the reason, she told him that she had always been delicate, and that it was very chilly outside. 

Li told Sang that she intended to visit him frequently, and that she hoped it would not inconvenience him; to which he explained that no one came to see him except another young lady, and that she was not around very often. “When she comes, I’ll go,” replied the young lady, “and I’ll only drop in when she’s not here.” She then gave him an embroidered slipper, and told him that whenever he shook it she would know that he wanted to see her. 

The next evening, he took out the shoe and shook it, and the young lady immediately walked in. From then on, whenever he brought it out, the young lady appeared before him. This seemed so strange that at last he asked her to give him some explanation; but she only laughed, and said it was merely coincidence. 

A few days later, Lien-hsiang came, and was alarmed by his appearance. She said to Sang, “Whatever has made you look so melancholy?” Sang replied that he did not know, and so she took her leave, saying, she would not be back for ten days. 

During this period, Miss Li visited Sang every day, and on one occasion asked him where his other friend was. Sang told her; and then she laughed and said, “What is your opinion of me as compared with Lien-hsiang?” 

“You are both perfect,” replied he, “but you are a little colder.” Miss Li didn’t like this, and cried out, “Both of us are perfect is what you say to me. So she is surely very special to you. I must be no match for her.” Angry, she pointed out that Lien-hsiang’s ten days were over, and insisted that she see the other woman for herself. She devised a plan to spy on her, making Sang promise to keep it all secret. 

As expected, the next evening Lien-hsiang came, and while they were talking she suddenly exclaimed, “Oh, dear! how much worse you seem to have become in the last ten days. Something is certainly wrong.” Sang was confused, and asked her to explain, to which she said, “First of all, your appearance; but your pulse is also weak. You’ve got the devil-disease.”

The following evening when Miss Li came, Sang asked her what she thought of Lien-hsiang. “Oh,” said she, “there’s no question about her beauty; but she’s a fox. When she went away I followed her to her hole on the hill side.” But Sang attributed this remark to jealousy and did not take it seriously.

However, the next evening when Lien-hsiang came round, he said, “I don’t believe it myself, but someone has told me you are a fox.” Lien-hsiang asked who told him this, but Sang dismissed her question and told her he’d been joking. 

“But what is the difference between a fox and an ordinary person, anyway?” she asked.

“Well,” answered Sang, “foxes frighten people to death, and, therefore, they are to be feared.” 

“Don’t you believe that!” cried Lien-hsiang; “but please, tell me who said this about me.” 

Sang refused at first, but soon yielded to her pleas and told her the whole story. 

“She is not human,” said Lien-hsiang; “for no human could cause these troubling changes in your health. Say nothing, and to-morrow I’ll watch her as she watched me.” 

The following evening Miss Li came in; but they had hardly spoken half-a-dozen sentences when a cough was heard outside the window, and Miss Li ran away. Lien-hsiang then entered and lamented, “You are lost! She is a devil, and if you do not at once forbid her coming here, it will soon be too late to save you.” 

“All jealousy,” thought Sang, saying nothing.

But Lien-hsiang continued, “I know that you don’t like to be rude to her; but I, for my part, do not want see you sacrificed, and to-morrow I will bring you some medicine to expel the poison from your system. Happily, the disease has not yet taken firm hold of you, and in ten days you will be well again.” 

The next evening she gave Sang some medicine, and he did feel much better; but, although he was very grateful to her, he did not believe that he had the devil-disease. 

He soon recovered, and Lien-hsiang left him, but not before warning him to stay far away from Miss Li. Sang pretended that he would follow her advice, and closed the door behind her. He then took out the slipper, and shook it. Miss Li appeared, somewhat cross at having been kept away for several days. “She merely looked after me while I was ill,” said Sang; “don’t be angry.” At this Miss Li brightened up a little; but Sang let it slip that Lien-hsiang believed she was a devil. 

“That nasty fox,” cried Miss Li, after a pause, “putting these things into your head. If you don’t break things off with her, I won’t come here again.” She then began to sob and cry, and Sang had a difficult time comforting her. 

The next evening Lien-hsiang came and found out that Miss Li had been there again. She was very angry, and told Sang he was doomed. 

“Why need you be so jealous?” said Sang, laughing. This enraged her, and she replied, “When you were nearly dying the other day and I saved you, if I had not been jealous, where would you be now?” 

Pretending to joke, Sang said that Miss Li had told him his recent illness was entirely owing to the machinations of a fox; to which she replied, “It’s true enough what you say, only you don’t see whose machinations. In 100 days I will return, and you will be bedridden.”

Away she went; and from that time Miss Li became a regular visitor.

Two months passed, and Sang began to feel weary. He tried to ignore it, but soon he grew thin and had trouble eating. Before long, he was unable to stand. And for the first time, Sang began to believe that Lien-hsiang was right about Miss Li. He closed his eyes and kept them shut for a long time, and when he opened them Miss Li had disappeared. Sang languished in bed, longing for Lien-hsiang’s return, until one day she drew aside the screen and walked in. 

She approached the bed she said with a smile, “do you believe me now?” Sang struggled a long time to speak; and confessed that he’d been wrong. He pleaded with her to save him. 

“When the disease has progressed this far,” replied Lien-hsiang, “there is very little to be done. I merely came to bid you farewell.” 

With great tribulation, Sang asked her to take something out from under his pillow and destroy it; reaching under the pillow, she drew forth Miss Li’s slipper. Right at that moment, Miss Li walked in, but when she saw Lien-hsiang she turned back as though she wanted to run away, but Lien-hsiang stepped into the doorway to block her exit. 

Lien-hsiang said, “At last we meet. Before, you blamed this gentleman’s illness to me; what do you say now?” 

Miss Li bent her head in acknowledgment of her guilt, and Lien-hsiang continued, “How is it that a nice girl like you can turn love into hate?” 

At this, Miss Li threw herself on the ground in a flood of tears and begged for mercy; and Lien-hsiang, lifting her up, demanded to know her story. 

“I am the daughter of a petty official, and I died young, leaving the web of my destiny incomplete. To be the partner of this gentleman was my ardent wish; I swear I did not intend to cause him harm.” 

“I have heard,” remarked Lien-hsiang, “that devils want to kill not out of spite, but so that they can be with their victims forever in death. Is this true?

“It is not,” replied Miss Li; “the companionship of two devils gives no pleasure to either. Were it otherwise, I should not have wanted for friends in the realms below… But I have a question for you. Aren’t foxes dangerous, too?” 

“Some foxes suck the breath from the living,” replied Lien-hsiang; “But I am not of that class. Some foxes are harmless; Unlike devils. Because of their composition, all devils are dangerous.” 

Sang now knew that these two girls were really a fox and a devil; however, this did not alarm him. His breathing had dwindled to a mere thread. He could only utter a small whimper of pain.

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This story continues on for quite some time, and I’ve cut it off at a point where things are looking pretty dire for Mr. Sang. You may be relieved to hear that this is not the end for our protagonist. Lien-hsiang restores him to health once more, but as he improves Miss Li wastes away. One day she disappears, and Sang is no longer able to summon her with the slipper. The story goes on to tell of a third young woman— who passes away in the night and is reanimated as the ghost of Miss Li. She and Sang go on to marry; meanwhile, Lien-hsiang takes a turn for the worse and passes away— vowing to return in 10 years. And, sure enough, 10 years later Lien-hsiang returns in the guise of a child, and is adopted by the couple. A happy ending, I suppose… albeit a weird one. 

But let’s talk more about Huli Jing. In our story, though we’re told one of the ladies is a fox, she never appears in that form. And she certainly doesn’t have nine tails… that we know of. 

And interestingly, while a striking attribute, the Huli Jing’s nine tails don’t seem to play a large role in their mythology. They seem to simply exist as a way to identify these foxes as otherworldly. I’ve also read that the older and more powerful a fox spirit is, the more tails it will have.

If that’s the case, it makes sense that Huli Jing are not to be trifled with. If your average, run-of-the-mill fox only has one tail, I assume you’ve got to have seen some stuff to end up with nine. 

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Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Fab Figmentals.

Research, writing, and sound editing are done by me, Lindsey Morse. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald.

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