Nine-tailed fox

Nine-tailed fox
The nine-tailed fox in the Shanhaijing, depicted in an edition from the Qing dynasty
Chinese name
Chinese	九尾狐
Literal meaning	nine-tailed fox
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin jiǔwěihú Yue: Cantonese Jyutping gau2 mei5 wu4
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	hồ ly tinh cáo chín đuôi
Chữ Hán	狐狸精
Chữ Nôm	𤞺𠃩𡳪
Korean name
Hangul	구미호
Hanja	九尾狐
Transcriptions Revised Romanization gumiho McCune–Reischauer kumiho
Japanese name
Kanji	九尾の狐
Transcriptions Romanization kyūbi no kitsune

The nine-tailed fox (Chinese: 九尾狐; pinyin: jiǔwěihú) is a mythical fox entity originating from Chinese mythology.

In Chinese folklores, foxes are depicted as spirits possessed of magic powers. These foxes are often depicted as mischievous, usually tricking other people, with the ability to disguise themselves as a beautiful man or woman.

The fox spirit is an especially prolific shapeshifter, known variously as the húli jīng (fox spirit) in China, the kitsune (fox) in Japan, and the kumiho (nine-tailed fox) in Korea. Although the specifics of the tales vary, these fox spirits can usually shapeshift, often taking the form of beautiful young women who attempt to seduce men, whether for mere mischief or to consume their bodies or spirits.^{[1][better source needed]}