Húxiān (), also called or is a

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

in Chinese religion whose

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

is present in provinces of

north China North China () is a list of regions of China, geographical region of the People's Republic of China, consisting of five province-level divisions of China, provincial-level administrative divisions, namely the direct-administered municipalities ...

(from

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

and

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

northwards), but especially in

northeast China Northeast China () is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of three provinces Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of over . The regi ...

where it can be said to be the most popular deity. The deity can be represented as either male or female, but is most frequently identified as the female whose animal form is a nine-tailed fox. Mythology tells that fox spirits are masters of the arts of metamorphosis, and can manifest in human form to seduce men or women. In exchange, they convey wealth and property. In mystical literature, influenced by

Taoism Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ' ...

, fox spirits are immortal or transcendent beings of a high level in the spiritual hierarchy of beings who engage in the pursuit of becoming immortals. The fox deity is also represented as a couple of gods, male and female, called the Great Lord of the Three Foxes () and the Great Lady of the Three Foxes (). As a goddess, the Fox Immortal is related to , the great goddess guardian of

Mount Kunlun The Kunlun Mountains constitute one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for more than . In the broadest sense, the chain forms the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau south of the Tarim Basin. Located in Western China, the Kunlun ...

(''

axis mundi In astronomy, is the Latin term for the axis of Earth between the celestial poles. In a geocentric coordinate system, this is the axis of rotation of the celestial sphere. Consequently, in ancient Greco-Roman astronomy, the is the axis of ...

''). pp. 88-89, 184.

Prevalence of the sect in northeast China

Nagao Ryuzō, a

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese

sinologist Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilizatio ...

, observed that the Fox Gods "enjoy such popularity to be worshipped by almost every household in north China and

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

". Henry Doré documented the worship of the Fox God in the northern parts of

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

and

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

. In parts of Hebei, to every newborn is assigned his own manifestation of Huxian, usually a female for a boy and a male for a girl. After these boys and girls get married, their patrons will be represented sitting together. In his survey of popular shrines and temples in Manchuria, Takizawa Shunryō found the number dedicated to Fox Gods overwhelming.

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* {{cite book, last=Kang, first=Xiaofei, year=2006, title=The Cult of the Fox: Power, Gender, and Popular Religion in Late Imperial and Modern China, publisher=Columbia University Press, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=75Uoe_3IatkC, isbn=0231508220 Chinese deities Fox deities

Prevalence of the sect in northeast China

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