Kitsune, Gumiho, Huli Jing: Asian Fox Spirits and Their Differences

Since ancient times, Asian fox spirits have been a major part of the culture of Japanese, Korean, and Chinese furry communities, and a major part of the larger culture in these countries as well. Yes, other Asian cultures have fox beliefs too, but you can do a video about them. This video is about the differences between the fox spirits of Japan, Korea, and China. In Japan, they're called kisine. In Korea, they're called gumiho or kumiho. And in China, hulijin. So let's start this video about the differences between fox creatures by talking about similarities. All three cultures have similar beliefs about the supernatural fox, especially nowadays when the world is so connected. Everyone's absorbing ideas and beliefs from other cultures. One thing you gotta keep in mind is that folklore is not an exact science. Not only can beliefs be influenced by other cultures, you can often find stories that go against very popular beliefs. There are exceptions to every folklore rule. Traditionally, fox spirits are tricksters, and they use their powers to help them trick humans. The main thing fox spirits are known for is that they can shapeshift into beautiful women to seduce men. This theme makes up probably 80% of stories about foxes, and 100% of stories about foxes in fanfics. And often, the reason they seduce men is to suck their life energy to gain powers or even become immortal. Sex is a big theme. If there's a fox in a story, it's probably trying to loosen some unlucky guy's pants. The idea of the shapeshifting fox spirits likely originated from that big brother that no one asked for, China. It then spread to Korea and Japan, although ancient Japan did seem to have native fox beliefs, so maybe native ideas and Chinese ideas combined to create the kisune that we all know and love, sometimes way too much. Let's talk about the nature of fox spirits, because it's different for each culture. The Japanese fox spirit is called the kisune. Kisune just means fox in Japanese. So in Japan, unlike in Korea and China, there's no difference between the normal fox and the supernatural fox with powers. A normal fox just gains more power over time. A kisune can be evil or good. Sometimes a kisune would transform into a woman, not to trick a man, but to become a loving wife. There's a special type of kisune who are messengers of Inari, the god of rice and agriculture. These kisune are always benevolent. In Korea, the gumiho or kumiho is a supernatural fox, different from normal foxes. Gumiho means nine-tailed fox in Korean. When a normal fox lives long enough, it turns into a gumiho. Some say it takes 100 years for this to happen, some say it takes 1000 years, and some even say it takes the amount of time the US takes to finish counting ballots in a national election. The gumiho is pretty much always evil and always female. There is only one traditional story of a gumiho that's a male. See how there are exceptions to every folklore rule? The Korean word for fox is yeoru 妖, which is also a negative word used to call someone a scheming woman. In China, the hulijing 狐狸精 is also a supernatural fox. It means fox spirit. Like the gumiho, when a normal fox lives long enough, it becomes a hulijing 狐狸精. A hulijing can be either good or evil, although it's usually evil in stories, and usually female. Traditionally, the hulijing is a special being that lies somewhere between humans and gods, or humans and demons. Today the Chinese call women who seduce married men hulijing 狐狸精, like a homewrecker or a woman who uses her beauty for evil deeds. So if you're a woman and think it'd be cool to tattoo some Chinese characters on your lower back, don't use hulijing 狐狸精. Anytime you want to get a tattoo of words from a foreign language, I suggest doing extensive research on the internet, ask someone who knows the language, and then just forget about the whole thing. Tails are a sign of power. You can tell if a fox is normal or supernatural by counting its tails. If you stop counting at the same time that you started, it's a normal fox. A hisune can have up to 9 tails. It grows a tail every 100 years. A 9-tailed fox is 1,000 years old. Now the expert counters among us may be saying, Wait, if it takes 100 years per tail, a 9-tailed fox would be 800 years old, not 1,000. You're correct, Pythagoras. It doesn't make sense. So either the 100 years per tail number is just an estimate, or the saying that a 9-tailed fox is 1,000 years old may not be literal. It may have just meant really old. For example, you may say to a friend, That's your new boyfriend? He's like a thousand years old. The Gumiho has exactly 9 tails. It's in the name. And the Hulijin is usually depicted with 9 tails, but the old stories actually say that it can have anywhere from 1 to 1,000 tails, so you know it gets the best sleep. Let's talk about powers. All of the foxes have the power to shapeshift into human form. A kisune can transform into men or women, even objects. In China, when a normal fox reaches 50 years old, it can shapeshift into a woman. At 100 years, it can shapeshift into a beautiful woman, or shaman, or even a man. There's a belief that male Buddhist monks and priests can see through a Hulijin's disguise. Some say when a Hulijin turns 1,000 years old, it rises to heaven and turns into a powerful golden nine-tailed celestial fox. For all foxes, their transformations are not perfect. They usually have some part of them that's foxy, like a sharp jawline or squinty eyes. Sometimes they screw up and a tail pops out. Dogs may be able to smell their foxiness. They can make visions to fool your eyes and can even possess you. Possessions usually drive the victim insane. In the Hulijin's case, the madness can be passed on for generations. Foxes can suck you dry, your energy that is. As the energy flows from your body into theirs, they level up their power and wisdom. Do enough of these flow jobs and they can even gain immortality. Now kisane stories don't usually focus on this energy-sucking business. They usually focus more on the trickster aspect. The kisane loves to play tricks on people, sometimes for evil, but sometimes just for the lulz. Writers for Gumiho and Hulijin stories did love energy-sucking though. It seems for the Gumiho and Hulijin, the purpose of all the shapeshifting and trickery was not for fun, but for power. The Gumiho stores the life energy of its victims in this round ball that it keeps in its mouth. Store enough energy and it gains immortality. In one story, a Gumiho tries to drain a schoolboy's life energy by shapeshifting into a girl and rolling her energy ball back and forth between his mouth and hers in the second most awkward French kiss ever. Only beaten by my first French kiss, where I slobbered on her nose and we had to wipe ourselves off afterwards. And then we kissed. Unfortunately for the Gumiho, the boy swallows the energy ball mid-snog. It releases a stream of vast knowledge into his head, making him super smart. And then he gets the village to hunt down the Gumiho and kill her. In some stories, instead of sucking energy, the Gumiho eats the victim's organs like the heart or the liver. It may even dig up bodies from graves to find a tasty heart to munch on. Some people say that if a Gumiho refrains from killing or eating humans for a thousand days, it can become human and lose its evil ways. The Hulijin is kinda like a succubus in that it drains energy through sex. It can also store the energy in a ball and carry the ball in its mouth like the Gumiho, or on the tip of its tail. What's special about the Hulijin is that it can use its ball to heal the sick. Friendly Hulijin have been known to sacrifice their lives to heal people. And now for a bunch of random info. In the popular story of the nine-tailed fox named Tamamonomai, she seduced a Japanese emperor for years. He was head over heels in love with her, but he almost uwu'd his way to an early grave because she was draining his life energy for years. But she was not always a beautiful woman. In one old version of the story, Tamamonomai was a 42-foot tall man. Just goes to show again how folklore is not an exact science. The Kisene's favorite food is aburaage, or fried tofu. The Hulijin's favorite food is eggs, and the Linfamy's favorite food is pho. The Hulijin were thought to be night animals and live in cemeteries. Both Hulijin and Kisene were said to live in old abandoned buildings. One of my favorite random facts comes from an old Chinese book that tells us that foxes like menstrual blood. They would find where women throw away their soiled rags every month and lick the blood from the rags. The writer then makes an educated guess that this is why foxes turn into monsters. Hey guys, I have an announcement to make. I'm looking for a video editor. Check out the link in the description for details. I've been making all the arts and videos for the channel myself, but it takes up all of my time and I don't have room to do other things related to the channel. Having a good editor to present my drawings and stuff should improve the video quality and free me up for other things I have planned. So if you're interested or know anyone who is, see the link in the description. For more fox videos and stories, check out this playlist. Okay we have two new patrons this week, Carlo Sands from Doran I'm guessing, and Shirley, she's surely an awesome person. Alright I love you, and spread the knowledge!