The Cult of the Fox: Power, Gender, and Popular Religion in Late Imperial and Modern China

221 Pages·2006·3.89 MB·English

by  Xiaofei Kang

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AN: 515382 ; Kang, Xiaofei.; The Cult of the Fox : Power, Gender, and Popular Religion in Late Imperial and Modern China
Account: s8997234.main.ehost
THE CULT OF THE FOX
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AN: 515382 ; Kang, Xiaofei.; The Cult of the Fox : Power, Gender, and Popular Religion in Late Imperial and Modern China
Account: s8997234.main.ehost
Xiaofei Kang
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r Columbia University Press
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AN: 515382 ; Kang, Xiaofei.; The Cult of the Fox : Power, Gender, and Popular Religion in Late Imperial and Modern China
Account: s8997234.main.ehost
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
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ig Copyright © 2006 Columbia University Press
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op All rights reserved
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a Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kang, Xiaofei.
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. The cult of the fox : power, gender, and popular religion in late imperial and modern China / Xiaofei
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Kang.
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un p. cm.

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te Includes bibliographical references and index.
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r ISBN 0-231-13338-3—ISBN 0-231-50822-0
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es 1. Foxes—China—Religious aspects. 2. Cults—China. II. Title: Power, gender, and popular religion in
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r late imperial and modern China. II. Title.
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BL2211.I5K36 2005
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xc 299.5’11212—dc22 2005041377
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is A Columbia University Press E-book.
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pu CUP would be pleased to hear about your reading experience with this e-book at cup

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t [email protected].

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AN: 515382 ; Kang, Xiaofei.; The Cult of the Fox : Power, Gender, and Popular Religion in Late Imperial and Modern China
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To Wang Wei and Alex
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AN: 515382 ; Kang, Xiaofei.; The Cult of the Fox : Power, Gender, and Popular Religion in Late Imperial and Modern China
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Contents
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l List of Illustrations
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co Acknowledgments

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pl Map: The Chinese Empire in the Early Twentieth Century
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r Introduction
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it 1. Foxes in Early Chinese Tradition
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us 2. Huxian and the Spread of the Fox Cult

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ep 3. Foxes and Domestic Worship
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sh 4. Foxes and Spirit Mediums
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ut Conclusion
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y Notes
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Illustrations
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l Map The Chinese Empire in the Early Twentieth Century
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p Figure 1.1 The Queen Mother of the West, the nine-tailed fox, and other attendants on a
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le tomb brick from Sichuan, first–second century a.d.
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p Figure 1.2 A Daoist talisman for summoning fox spirits.
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.S Figure 1.3 Daoist talismans for the expulsion of fox demons.
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u Figure 3.1 Portrait of the fox, Hu Santaiye (Grandpa/Master Hu the Third), and his

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s Figure 3.2 Portrait of the Five Animal Spirits in the early twentieth century.
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fa Figure 4.1 Daoist exorcistic ritual performed for a family haunted by a fox spirit.

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e Figure 4.2 A literati visit to a fox shrine hosted by a female medium.

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li Figure 5.1 Bixia Yuanjun (The Perfected of the Azure Clouds), also known as Taishan
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niangniang (Mother Taishan), in the temple of the Mountain of the Marvelous
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i Figure 5.2 Wang Sannainai (Granny Wang the Third) in the temple of the Mountain of the
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h Figure 5.3 The Stone Buddha, with its vague features, in the Jieyin temple, Boluo, Shaanxi
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an Figure 5.4 The fox as a Diamond King beside Buddha in the Jieyin temple, Boluo, Shaanxi

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Acknowledgments
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l I am greatly indebted to Bob Hymes, a most inspiring scholar, stimulating teacher, and
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i supportive friend. I am also very grateful to my other teachers at Columbia and to the
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o readers on my dissertation committee: William de Bary, Paul Rouzer, Michael Tsin, Pei-yi
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bl Wu, Shang Wei, Myron Cohen, and Valerie Hansen. I also wish to express my special
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l gratitude to Paul Katz, who has been a constant source of encouragement and support and
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r whose comments on various versions of the manuscript were immensely helpful in my final
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S. revisions.
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er The following people have read the whole or parts of my work and offered invaluable
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u criticism from historical and literary perspectives: Robert Campany, Christian de Pee, Liu
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t Jianmei, Donald Sutton, Michael Szonyi, Tian Xiaofei, Zhang Dongming, and an
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pe anonymous reviewer for Columbia University Press. Sarah Schneewind read the

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se manuscript more than once with enthusiasm and insightful comments. She and Rachel
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i Schneewind also provided editorial help at different stages of my writing. My work also
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pt benefited from scholarly exchanges with Shin-yi Chao, Thomas Dubois, Qitao Guo, David
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e Johnson, and Terry Kleeman at AAS panels. Rania Huntington and Li Jianguo generously

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e shared their works and sources with me. James Flath and Chen Xia kindly provided leads
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s
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bl to visual materials. Wendy Lochner, Leslie Kriesel, and Christine Mortlock at Columbia
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e University Press shepherded the manuscript into print with great patience.
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om I would also like to thank my wonderful colleagues at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
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n Christine Adams, Linda Hall, Chuck Holden, and Tom Barrett offered advice when I sought
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is publishers. Jingqi Fu helped me make academic connections in Beijing. In addition to
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pe providing much valuable professional advice during our long commute together, Gail

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o Savage read the introduction and offered valuable insights as a non-China specialist. Pam
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w Hicks, Sandy Robbins, Lucy Myers, and Jeff Krissoff are the best administrative and
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fo technical backup one could ever find.

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a My research and ethnographic work in China during the academic year 1997–1998 was
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ssd made possible by the Columbia Traveling Fellowship. My subsequent trips to China in 2001
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d and 2002 were sponsored by faculty development grants from St. Mary’s College. While I
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rsre was in China, Professors Sun Qinshan, Wang Lan, Zhang Yufan, and Zhang Honghong
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ib
n afforded me a friendly intellectual home at Beijing University. Gu Qing, Liu Xinming, Zhang
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biy Wei, and Zhan Yiping helped me locate rare materials. My cousin Li Guangxin arranged my
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ol. trip to Miaofengshan, and my informants in Yulin treated me with incredible hospitality.
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06er When I first came to the United States, I was fortunate to study with Professors Josh
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@ r Fogel, Alan P. L. Liu, Kenneth Hsien-yung Pai, William Powell, Kuo-Ch’ing Tu, and Mayfair
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gg Yang at the University of California at Santa Barbara. They taught me and, in Professor
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opll Pai’s case, “brainwashed” me, with refreshing ideas and personal warmth, each in their
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AN: 515382 ; Kang, Xiaofei.; The Cult of the Fox : Power, Gender, and Popular Religion in Late Imperial and Modern China
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own way. Above all, I owe a great debt of gratitude to Professor Ron Egan, who ushered
me into the academic field with kindness, patience, and rigorous standards. He has been a
role model for me as a teacher and a scholar. I am also grateful to Susan Egan, who has
been equally supportive all these years and whose noble personality and incredible talents
have won my deepest respect and admiration.
My life in America would not be possible without Bob Orr and Bonnie and Jack Orr, who
helped me out of China in the aftermath of 1989 and have welcomed my family into the
.
w
a
l wonderful Orr family with so much love and support. I also deeply appreciate Carol Huang’s
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ig encouragement and support during and beyond my Columbia years. In China, my in-laws,
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o Wang Kezhu and Yang Suzhuang, devoted so much time to babysitting through several hot
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bl summers in Beijing so that I could travel and write at ease. My sister-in-law, Wang
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i
l Xiaoqing, and her husband, Liu Tongpeng, scanned visual materials for me. My sisters,
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p
a
Kang Yanfei and Kang Zhanfei, have done so much to lessen the family burdens on my
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o

S. shoulders so that I could focus on my work. Most of all, my parents, Kang Jidong and Li
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r Zhaoxia, have always answered whenever and wherever I asked for help and stood by me
e
d
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u through ups and downs. To them, and especially to my father, who did not live to see the
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tt book in print, nothing I say can repay their love and kindness. I also thank my grandmother,
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e my dear Laolao, who showered my childhood with abundant love, care, and fun folk stories.
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se My initial interest in foxes and spirits can be traced to her. In memory of her, I open the
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ir book with a story about her.
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pt Finally, my husband Wang Wei has sustained me through all these years with his
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ex confidence, humor, intelligent conversations, and unconditional support. My son Alex was

,
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e born the same year I finished my dissertation and has grown up with the book. He has
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s
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bl been a constant source of inspiration with his bright smiles, surprising ideas, and so many
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e little “books” he has drawn. To them this book is dedicated.
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t A section of chapter 1 was previously published as “The Fox (hu) and the Barbarian (hu):
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it Unraveling Representations of the Other in Late Tang Tales” in Journal of Chinese
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rm Religions 27 (1999): 35–67. A section of chapter 5 appeared in a slightly different form in
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f

y Minsu quyi (Journal of Chinese Ritual, Theater, and Folklore) 138 (2002): 67–110 under the
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.in title, “In the Name of Buddha: The Cult of the Fox at a Sacred Site in Contemporary
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