People throughout the ages have continuously added the cultural connotation of fox demons to make their images more diverse, and in traditional Chinese literature, the image of foxes has shown many human natures since the Tang Dynasty, in addition to demonity and charm.
The image of the fox during the Wei and Jin Dynasties and the Northern and Southern Dynasties can be said to have fallen to the bottom, and for the people at that time, the fox demon would cultivate itself by harvesting human essence. Therefore, in the Six Dynasties Zhiwei novel, the fox demon is a rat-like existence in the street. The Tang legend (novel) developed on the basis of Wei Jinzhiwei's novel, because the Tang people mostly believe in fox immortals, their fox demons are very different from the previous generation. The Tang Dynasty scholar Zhang Que wrote: "Since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the people have been troubled by fox gods, and the houses have been sacrificed to pray for grace, and food and drink are the same as people"; in the Tang Dynasty, there is also the saying that "there is no fox charm, no village", which shows how common the people who worshiped fox immortals were at that time.
Among the many female foxes who seduced men, an unprecedented female fox setting appeared in the Tang Dynasty, whose personality did not have the nature of foxes and evil spirits, and had more virtuous virtues. Represented by Shen Jieji's "Biography of Ren".
The story features the half-human, half-fox demon Ren, and the male protagonist Zheng Liu is initially afraid of Ren's fox demon identity, but later overcomes his fear and lives together. However, the beauty of the Ren clan made Zheng Liu's relative Wei Kun also quite infatuated, because Wei Kun did not know that Ren was a fox demon, and repeatedly intended to make her and himself have a spring breeze, but ren loved Zheng Liu deeply and strictly rejected Wei Kun, and the latter two became good friends. Wei Kun also sponsored Zheng Liu, whose family was poor, and Ren also introduced many beautiful women to Wei Kun in return. At the end of the story, Zheng Liu asked Ren to go with him, and Ren said that some witches had predicted that she would not be suitable for west this year, but had no choice but to set off with Zheng Liu. As a result, Ren was recognized by the wild dogs as a fox demon on the way, and finally bitten to death by the wild dogs.
Wei Jin has been mostly a terrifying fox demon, and the female fox Ren clan of "The Biography of Ren" is different, although it has a beautiful appearance, but its personality is pure, kind, and noble, although it has the essence of a fox demon, but in the whole story, Ren Shi has not done a bad thing, almost reversing the image of the female fox who will only charm men and suck essence. Emotionally, Ren was loyal to Zheng Liu and played the clever nature of the fox, although he rejected Wei Kun, but it did not cause the relationship between Zheng Liu and Wei Kun to break. This kind, humane description makes Ren's ending even more pitiful, although Ren already knows that there will be a disaster on this trip, and because he can't bear to reject Zheng Liu, he is unfortunately bitten by a wild dog. The storyline arrangement of "The Biography of Ren" brings out the typical example that in future novels, people and foxes will go through many twists and turns and tests. Ren shi can be said to be an important turning point in the literary image of the fox, which became the basis for the Qing Dynasty literary scholar Pu Songling to create "Liaozhai Zhiyi".
The fox demon story of the Song Dynasty is much less than that of the Tang Dynasty, but it is still the mainstream of the fox incarnation as a beautiful woman to seduce others, and the Song Dynasty Zhiwei novel "Qingzhuo Gaoyi" also includes a female fox similar to the Ren clan of the Tang Dynasty, with a beautiful appearance and noble character, and also got rid of the description of fox demons and evil people since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, which can almost be said to be the ideal virtuous woman of the literati.
The fox demon Xiaolian is a slave girl in Li Lang, who can sing and dance. However, Xiaolian was not good at music and female popularity at first, so Li Langzhong had the idea of returning Xiaolian to Ya Po (a woman who trafficked in human beings), fortunately, Xiaolian had become a little good at singing and dancing under long-term training, and she looked better and better, so Li Langzhong left her behind. In the early days, Xiaolian repeatedly refused Li Langzhong's seduction, but eventually became Li Langzhong's concubine, and repeatedly used the special ability of the fox demon to help and heal Li Langzhong and his family. At the end of the story, Li Langzhong was ordered to be transferred to another state, and Xiaolian was unable to travel with him so he divination. A year later, the two met again, Xiaolian finally confessed to Li Langzhong the identity of the fox demon, as well as the experience of the past life, hoping to die with this fox body, and finally Li Langzhong found the fox as xiaolian said and buried her.
The fox demon Xiaolian is similar to Ren's family, and the whole story does not have a harmful plot, but the difference between the two stories can still be seen. Xiaolian explained to Li Langzhong the cause and effect of the past life and the transformation of the fox, and we could see the negative impressions about the fox, all of which were concentrated in Xiaolian's past life. In her previous life, Xiaolian was still a concubine, but she repeatedly used rumors to cause harm to the master mother, causing the master mother to die of grief. Therefore, after Xiao lian's death, she was punished by the Yin officials to be a fox in the next life, and only after the expiration of the karmic reward period could she become a person again. This not only joins the Buddhist theory of retribution for good and evil and reincarnation, but also distinguishes the difference between Ren and Xiaolian, who shows a humane side in his actions, but Xiaolian helps Li Langzhong to heal and divinate, all in order to accumulate blessings.
In the Qing Dynasty, the image of the fox demon was further idealized. "Chatting with Zai Zhiyi. Lotus Xiang", which tells the story of a poor scholar Sang Sheng, who meets two beautiful women who visit at night, one is called Lian Xiang, and the other is Li Shi. Sang Sheng successively "silked even" (male and female intercourse) with them, and after Lian Xiang saw that Sang was not angry, she met again after ten days, and Li Shi still arrived every night. Lian Xiang explains to Sang Sheng that Li Shi is a ghost; Li Shi then tells Sang Sheng that Lian Xiang is a fox, and because Sang Sheng is with Li Shi night and night, his body is declining; Lian Xiang sends medicine to cure the disease and restore his body to health.
Li Shi felt ashamed of Sang Sheng, so he attached himself to the daughter of a rich man. Lian Xiang later arranged for Sang Sheng to marry a woman possessed by Li Shi, and the three of them shared the joys of the family; after Lian Xiang fell ill and died, she and Sang Sheng agreed to reunite after ten years before she died, during which Sang Sheng took the exam and lived from poor to rich and lian Xiang met, and the three of them met again.
Lian Xiang is the same as the two fox demons mentioned above, but there are more depictions of active pursuit of Sangsheng, and more comparisons between foxes and ghosts. Lian Xiang not only shows in the story that she is not a fox, but also cares about Sang Sheng's physical condition everywhere. Although he competed with the Li clan, he finally treated the Li clan as a sister, and entrusted the child to the Li clan before he died.
In the pre-Qin period, foxes were regarded as auspicious and divine beasts, and during the Wei and Jin dynasties, they were reduced to demon beasts. Unlike the fox demons that do evil and suck human essence in the Six Dynasties Zhiwei novels, the fox demons after the Tang Dynasty began to be more humane and no longer harmed people; the fox demons of the Song Dynasty began to have an idealized trend. In "Liaozhai Zhiyi", the fox has become an ideal wife in the minds of the literati, with a variety of images different from the previous generation, and has also created a fox whose character is much higher than that of a ghost, completely subverting the negative impression of the public on the fox since the Wei and Jin dynasties.