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For more than five centuries, the shamanistic fox cult has attracted large portions of the Chinese population across social classes. Deemed illicit by imperial rulers and clerics and officially banned by republican and communist leaders, the fox cult has managed to survive and flourish in individual homes and community shrines throughout northern China.
Xiaofei Kang examines this cult as a vibrant popular religion, exploring the manifold meanings of the fox spirit in Chinese society. Kang describes various cult practices, activities of worship, and the exorcising of fox spirits to reveal how the Chinese people have constructed their cultural and social values outside the gaze of official power and morality.
— Gerald Vinten
Kang has indeed given us a superb study of the fox cult in premodern China.
— Philip Clart
I am certain that others will benefit from reading it as much as I have.
— Chun-Fang Yu
This book serves as valuable material for all readers interested in East Asian religion, history, and culture.
— Miki Morita
Anyone who is interested in the place of the fox in Chinese religious culture should start with this book.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Map: The Chinese Empire in the Early Twentieth Century
Introduction
1. Foxes in Early Chinese Tradition
2. Huxian and the Spread of the Fox Cult
3. Foxes and Domestic Worship
4. Foxes and Spirit Mediums
5. Foxes and Local Cults
6. Fox Spirits and Officials
Conclusion
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index