The Huli jing originates from the nine-tailed fox of Qingqiu in the Shanhaijing and develops in texts like the Taiping Guangji into a fox demon that, after a thousand years, shapeshifts into a woman. Both Korea’s Gumiho and Japanese fox lore trace back to this Chinese motif.
Its core is the horror of mimicry — it transforms into a beautiful woman to approach men, yet is not human. As the source of fox-shapeshifter tales that spread across East Asia, it sits at the head of the lineage.