Nine-tailed fox
Videos
The nine-tailed fox is a mythical fox entity originating from the mythology of China.
Mansindo, early 19th c. Korean shamanic painting
Amaterasu cave crop
Kuniteru Gozu dragon
Gumiho
Videos
A gumiho or kumiho is a creature that appears in the folktales of East Asia and legends of Korea. It is similar to the Chinese jiuweihu, the Japanese kitsune and the Vietnamese hồ ly tinh.
Nine-tailed fox
…a beautiful man or woman. The fox spirit is an especially prolific shapeshifter, known variously as the jiǔwěihú in Mandarin speaking China, and the kumiho in Korea, the kitsune in Japan, and the hồ ly tinh in Vietnam. Although the specifics of the tales vary, these fox spirits can usually shapeshift, often…
Kumiho illustration provided by the National Institute of Korean Language
These foxes are depicted in an classical painting from the Lotus Sutra(法華經), a Buddhist scripture from the Goryeo and Joseon periods. The foxes are fleeing from a club. There is a Buddhist doctrine that those who act foolishly are reincarnated as foxes.
This is a traditional Korean funeral ritual tool called Kkokdu, depicting a guide of the deceased wearing black clothes and riding a black fox.
Okpodong Giwanrok, a fable from the late Joseon Dynasty