Monumenta Serica 57 (2009) pp. 141-166.

The Personification of Lust (abstract)

Just as the human imagination often creates other supernatural creatures to serve as archetypes personifying visceral human emotions, Chinese of the Qing period frequently attribute male sexual fantasies to manipulation by fox spirits (huli jing 狐貍精)engaged in Inner Alchemy practices. From medieval times, the Chinese have dreaded fox spirits, which they have believed appear as beautiful women in order to bewitch men and suck away their energy. Traditionally, the Chinese view such amorous encounters as states caused by outside forces that subject the victim to temptations, and often to hallucinations as well. For the Chinese, the vulpine obsession is pathological, because of the illness the encounter supposedly causes.
One of the richest sources of such vulpine lore is the bibliographer Ji Yun’s 紀昀 (1724–1805) Yuewei caotang biji 閱微草堂筆記 (Jottings from the Thatch Hut of Close Observations). Although the large proportion of anecdotes about fox spirits that he records in this book indicate Ji Yun’s fascination with them, other Qing stories from books such as Yetan suilu 夜譚隨錄 (Casual Records of Night Talks), by the Manchu writer Hebang’e 和邦額 (fl. 1736 – ca. 1779), often confirm the concepts his anecdotes express. A few legends refer to an affinity as one reason a fox spirit might obsess a man. More commonly, legends explain the fox’s obsessing the human male in terms of its magical powers and its desire to enhance them. Other legends blame the weakness of the men who give free rein to their own lust, permitting themselves to be obsessed by these dangerous creatures.

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