Two Conflicting Images of the Female Fox Spirit: What Are Its Underlying Implications? Among the rich, enormous and abundant images in literature, the fox spirit was one of the most famous and frequently depicted spirits. in Chinese imperial history. The fox is considered one of the most important Chinese folk beliefs, and the story of the fox is one of the popular subjects of Chinese classic novels. Most fox-inspired characters take the form of a female character, the female fox spirit such as Daji in Fengshen Yanyi and Ren in Ren's Story has become engraved in Chinese culture and become a famous image. Firstly, the gender of the fox spirit was somewhat arbitrary, neither female nor male were assigned to the fox spirit incarnation. In literature, legends and folk tales, it is then more exclusively the female spirit of the fox rather than the male spirit, probably due to the development of feudalism and emerging patriarchal domination. There are generally two types of female fox spirit incarnations described in ancient and imperial Chinese literature. . One is the evil, seductive, and wicked female character who often gains power and strength by manipulating or exhausting men. The other is the good-hearted, kind, virtuous and loyal female character who often sacrifices herself for the sake of her lover. Regardless of the two contradictory images of the female fox spirit, they all reflect men's paradoxical view of women in early China. Or in other words, these two distinct depictions of female foxes may reveal men's conflicting views toward women (Huang 143). On the one hand, represented by this last image of the fox spirit who possesses a good nature, men love and admire women. On the other hand, as depicted in the ancient image of the fox spirit engaging middle of paper......g Zhou, who was initially an intelligent and dignified ruler, cannot escape the vital attraction. of Daji's extraordinary beauty and seductive body. Through the creation of the image, people can be warmed and reminded of the great potential influence that women could have on men (Huang, 144). Moreover, the responsibility for the deterioration of a country is attributed to the fox-spirited women since they were the ones who bewitched the king into inappropriate decision-making practices and caused unrest. In the Fengshen Yanyi, King Zhou only deviates and becomes corrupt after the arrival of Daji. Even though it's just a historical romance made up of high fantasy, the plots may be a little less reasonable, it still demonstrates the tendency of powerful men to externalize failure onto women. The fall of the country is not due to the poor governance of the ruler, but to the bad actions of beautiful women..