Jiutou Zhiji Jing ( zh, c=九头雉鸡精/九頭雉鷄精, p=Jiǔtóu Zhìjī Jīng; roughly ''Nine-Headed Pheasant Spirit''), or Hu Ximei ( zh, c=胡喜媚, p=Hú Xǐmèi; roughly ''Splendor''), is a yaojing, changed from a

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera's native range is restricted to Eura ...

with nine heads. She is a character from the famed classic Chinese novel ''

Investiture of the Gods ''The Investiture of the Gods'', also known by its Chinese titles () and is a 16th-century Chinese novel and one of the major Written vernacular Chinese, vernacular Chinese works in the gods and demons (''shenmo'') genre written during the Min ...

''. Like both

Pipa Jing Pipa Jing ( zh, c=琵琶精, p=Pípa Jīng), or Wang Guiren ( zh, c=王貴人, p=Wáng Guìrén), is a character featured within the classic Chinese novel ''Fengshen Yanyi'' (Investiture of the Gods). She is a yaojing (seductive spirit) transform ...

and

Daji Daji ( zh, c=妲己, p=Dájǐ, w=Ta2-chi3) was the favourite consort of King Zhou of Shang, the last king of the Shang dynasty in ancient China. In legends and fictions, she is portrayed as a malevolent fox spirit who kills and impersonates the ...

, Zhiji Jing is one of three specters under Nu Wa. In appearance, Zhiji Jing wore a large red robe, a silk sash around her slim waist, and small red linen shoes. She also possessed beautiful eyes as an autumn lake. Zhiji Jing would first appear when Daji headed to the tomb of the

Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch, or Huangdi ( zh, t=黃帝, s=黄帝, first=t) in Chinese, is a mythical Chinese sovereign and culture hero included among the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. He is revered as ...

to retrieve her along with her other fox cohorts. Daji intended to bring her friends to a banquet disguised as heavenly maidens to trick the king. Once the true forms of Zhiji Jing and her allies were revealed to Vice Prime Minister Bi Gan, and each specter returned to their original form, Huang Feihu set out and lit their home on fire, which killed every specter except Splendor herself. Following this event, Daji returned to the tomb of the Yellow Emperor and found her sister Zhiji Jing as the only survivor. However, she would head back to

Zhaoge Zhaoge (), in modern Qi County, Hebi, Henan province, was the capital of the State of Wey in the Zhou dynasty. According to traditional histories, it had been the last capital of the Shang dynasty, from king Geng Ding or Wu Yi through the final ...

with Daji disguised as an even more beautiful woman. While disguised as a woman, Zhiji Jing would play along with her sister's scheme by spending some personal time with

King Zhou King Zhou (; ) was the pejorative posthumous name given to Di Xin of Shang () or Shou, King of Shang (), the last king of the Shang dynasty of ancient China. He is also called Zhou Xin (). In Chinese, his name Zhòu ( 紂) also refers to a horse c ...

. Shortly after, Zhiji Jing decided to stay with the king at Zhaoge instead of living in the mountains as previously. She would continue to enjoy palace life and drown herself with luxurious wine. Near the end of the novel, she tried to flee Zhaoge's destruction with her sisters but was captured by

Jiang Ziya Jiang Ziya ( century BC – 11th century BC), also known by several other names, also known by his posthumous name as the Duke Tai of Qi, was the founding monarch of the Qi state. He was a military general and strategist who as ...

's men. She was executed by Erlang Shen. Her origin is said to be derived from the mythical Nine-headed bird.

References

Investiture of the Gods characters Birds in Chinese mythology Mythical many-headed creatures {{Novel-char-stub