A ''kumiho'' or ''gumiho'' (, literally " nine-tailed fox") is a creature that appears in the folktales of

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

and legends of Korea. It is similar to the Chinese , the Japanese and the Vietnamese . It can freely transform into a beautiful woman often set out to seduce men, and eat their liver or heart (depending on the legend). There are numerous tales in which the appears, several of which can be found in the encyclopedic ''Compendium of Korean Oral Literature'' ().

Mythology

Description

The old Chinese text '' Classic of Mountains and Seas'', the earliest record to document the nine-tailed fox, mentioned that the fox with nine tails came from and lived in the country called Qingqiu three hundreds miles east, the term meaning "green hill" interpreted as the country or region of the east and was later historically used to refer to the region of Korea at least since the era during the

Three Kingdoms of Korea The Three Kingdoms of Korea or Samhan (Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla) competed for hegemony over the Korea, Korean Peninsula during the ancient period of History of Korea, Korean history. During the Three Kingdoms period (), many states and statele ...

. However, the name of

Gojoseon Gojoseon (; ), contemporary name Joseon (; ), was the first kingdom on the Korea, Korean Peninsula. According to Korean mythology, the kingdom was established by the legendary king Dangun. Gojoseon possessed the most advanced culture in th ...

(called Joseon in the record), the Korean kingdom that existed along with other minor states of the Korean peninsula at the time, was separately introduced in the same record. Kumiho and other versions of the nine-tailed fox myths and folklores share a similar concept. All explain fox spirits as being the result of great longevity or the accumulation of energy, said to be foxes who have lived for a thousand years, and give them the power of shapeshifting, usually appearing in the guise of a woman. However, while China's ''huli jing'' and Japan's ''kitsune'' are often depicted as either good, evil or neutral, the ''kumiho'' is almost always treated as a neutral, but self centered figure who feasts on humans attempting to gain more power in its quest to become a higher being, which often involves eating or stealing souls from humans. It is unclear at which point in time Koreans began viewing the ''kumiho'' as a selfish creature, since many ancient texts mention the benevolent ''kumiho'' assisting humans (and even make mentions of wicked humans tricking kind but naïve ''kumiho''). In later literature, ''kumiho'' were often depicted as bloodthirsty half-fox, half-human creatures that wandered cemeteries at night, digging human hearts out from graves. The fairy tale '' The Fox Sister'' depicts a fox spirit preying on a family for their

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

however more importantly, their souls so she can become human. However there are also many stories in Korean literature from this era detailing the ''kumiho'' falling in love with a human and choosing not to eat them in order to be with their lover often having to do with, if a ''kumiho'' refrains from eating humans for 1000 years it too, will become human or should the kumiho absorb 1000 souls it shall become human, similar to "The Fox Sister".

Knowledge/Life Essence beads

A prominent feature that separates the kumiho from its two counterparts (although, both Japanese Kitsune and Chinese Huli Jing having their own versions of “knowledge beads”, in the form of Kitsune’s starball and Huli Jing’s “golden elixir” neidan) is the existence of a 'yeowoo guseul' (, literally meaning fox marble) which is said to consist of knowledge. According to Korean mythology, the Yeowoo guseul, provides life essence to the Kumiho. The method of absorbing energy with the "yeowoo guseul" resembles the action of kissing. The kumiho transfers the yeowoo guseul from their mouth into the humans' mouths and then retakes it after a period of time when enough life essence is collected. The yeowoo guseul embeds itself somewhere along the abdominal area where the life chi is, then begins to collect the life essence. The yeowoo guseul can only stay in the human body for 1-year before killing the host from completely draining their life essence. It is also notable that, once the yeowoo guseul is taken back from the human host, the human host will be left with no memory of the kumiho or the yeowoo guseul, given that the yeowoo guseul has been taken back before the 1-year time.

Powers

Most legends state that while a ''gumiho'' was capable of changing its appearance, there is still something persistently fox-like about it (i.e. a foxy face, a set of ears, or the tell-tale nine tails) or a magical way of forcing; its countenance changes, but its nature does not. In ''Transformation of the Kumiho'' (), a kumiho transforms into the identical likeness of a

bride A bride is a woman who is about to be married or who is a newlywed. When marrying, if the bride's future spouse is a man, he is usually referred to as the ''bridegroom'' or just ''groom''. In Western culture, a bride may be attended by a maid, ...

at a wedding and is only discovered when her clothes are removed. ''Bakh Mun-su and the Kumiho'' () records an encounter that Pak Munsu has with a girl, living alone in the woods, that has a foxy appearance. In ''The Maiden who Discovered a Kumiho through a Chinese Poem'' (), the kumiho is ultimately revealed when a

hunting dog A hunting dog is a Dog, canine that hunts with or for hunters. There are several different Dog type, types of hunting dog developed for various tasks and purposes. The major categories of hunting dog include hounds, terriers, cur type dogs, and ...

catches the scent of a fox and attacks. Although they have the ability to change forms, the true identity of a kumiho was said to be zealously guarded by the kumiho themselves. Some tales say that if a kumiho abstains from killing and eating humans for a thousand years, it can become human. Much like

changeling A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found throughout much of European folklore. According to folklore, a changeling was a substitute left by a supernatural being when kidnapping a human being. ...

werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf–humanlike creature, either purposely or after bei ...

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

s in Western lore, there are always variations on the myth depending on the liberties that each story takes with the legend. One version of the mythology, however, holds that with enough will, a ''kumiho'' could further ascend from its yogoe (spirit) state, become permanently human and lose its evil character. Explanations of how this could be achieved vary, but sometimes include aspects such as refraining from killing or tasting meat for a thousand years, or obtaining a cintamani and making sure that the Yeoiju saw the full moon at least every month during the ordeal. Unlike its two counterparts, ''kumiho'' were not thought to be capable of omnipotence or creation at will, since they were lesser creatures.

References

External links