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Author
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Comment
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MaireSmith
Registered User
(3/17/06 2:42 am)
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Chinese Folk Tale - Can you identify
Hi there!
I read a Chinese story in a book of folk tales 20 years ago, and I'm now trying to find out more about it, as I'd like to re-read it.
Sadly, I remember no names and not the entire plot. A friend suggested someone at this set of pages might be able to help; I couldn't find anything that looked likely in the FAQ.
Are you able to suggest where I might find this story?
It's about a family of foxes.
I think they have various numbers of tails.
They take human form and, as humans, take over a kingdom. They are dreadful rulers and are eventually 'unmasked' as foxes.
They are able to do magic, mostly based on sympathetic magic -- for example, making a paper cut-out of a tiger which takes form as a real tiger until it is defeated.
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In the same book was the story about the archer who shot the many suns that were scorching the land, all but the current one, which used to be one of many. I don't know if this detail will help, as it was a different story, but I thought it might jog someone's memory, if someone else has read the same book.
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Nalo
Registered User
(3/17/06 8:51 pm)
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Re: Chinese Folk Tale - Can you identify
Sounds like a kitsune (foxwife) story. This page may help: www.coyotes.org/kitsune/kitsune.html
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MaireSmith
Registered User
(3/18/06 2:25 am)
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Re: Chinese Folk Tale - Can you identify
Thank you. It is indeed a kitsune story, although one with both male and female kitsune.
Sadly, the story I'm after is a long, involved story (more a linked set of stories, really), and the page suggested has nothing similar.
It had some lovely stories, though.
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Maire Smith
Edited by: MaireSmith at: 3/18/06 2:33 am
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asianmuse
Unregistered User
(4/14/06 1:00 am)
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Chines folk story
Hi,
In old Japan, they use alot of animals in their story tellings. Usually in the form of a badger or fox.
There is a book titled Tales of Old Japan by A. B. Mitford, Published by Dover
The story is called The Foxes' Wedding.
I hope this helps
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MaireSmith
Registered User
(4/14/06 2:04 am)
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Thanks
Thank you!
I shall look it up. Sadly, it sounds rather unlikely to include the story I'm after, which is quite explicitly Chinese, not Japanese, but I do like kitsune stories in general, so I imagine I will enjoy the book.
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midori snyder
Registered User
(4/15/06 4:44 am)
ezSupporter
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Fox of Nine Tails
The more tails on the fox, the older and more powerful it is...so the big stories are usually about the "fox of nine tails," in China, Korea and Japan.
The Koreans have a long TV series about the "clan of the Fox with Nine Tails," called "Forbidden Love"--modernized folktales ala Buffy...but drawn from the old stories. One can purchase a DVD of the series...I suspect they too are working off of a body of stories about the hidden and comingled lives of these magical foxes as humans.
Also, the Chinese versions involve Chou Hsin, of the Yin (or Shang ) dynasty who was seduced and married a nine tailed fox disguised as a courtesan. She got him to hold such lavish feasts she ran the dynasty into the ground.
You might also try the classic "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" or "Strange Tales of Liaozhai" a huge collection of supernatural tales (a sort of Chinese Grimms) which has quite a few of these tales. (this collection is a big resources for Chinese filmmakers--Tsui Hark's "Chinese Feast" comes from this work)
Here's a few versions of it:
Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (tr. Herbert A. Giles)
Strange Tales from the Liaozhai studio (tr. Qingnian Zhang, Ciyun Zhang, Yi Yang)
Strange Tales From Make-do Studio (tr. Victor H. Mair, Denis C. Mair)
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MaireSmith
Registered User
(4/15/06 4:56 am)
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Re: Fox of Nine Tails
Thank you so much!
The Chinese story you refer to sounds remarkably like the one I'm looking for, and the names you mention should make it possible for me to find it.
I'm really, really happy, as it's stuck in my head for over two-thirds of my life, and I'd really like to know the *plot*, since all I have is fragments.
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Maire Smith |
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