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Classic of the Southern Mountains · Mount Qingqiu

Nine-tailed Fox

九尾狐

Beast
Nine-tailed Fox in an original reconstruction of its ancient mountain-and-sea habitatMoonlight over Qingqiu
“There is a beast shaped like a fox with nine tails. Its cry is like an infant; it can devour humans, and whoever eats it will be protected from gu poison.”公版原文：有獸焉，其狀如狐而九尾，其音如嬰兒，能食人，食者不蠱。— Shanhaijing · Classic of the Southern Mountains
HISTORICAL IMAGE EVIDENCE · 古籍圖像依據

From historical line drawing to digital life古籍圖像依據與數位化再現

Read the surviving historical image first, then see how Shanhai Wonders reinterprets the Nine-tailed Fox through a contemporary realist reconstruction. The comparison shows creative lineage—not a claim that the modern image is the single ancient truth.

IHISTORICAL SOURCE
Complete line drawing labelled Nine-tailed Fox from the 1667 Wu Renchen edition of the ShanhaijingOpen source crop ↗

Historical Nine-tailed Fox九尾狐古籍圖像 · 1667

Work
Shanhaijing Guangzhu, attributed to Wu Renchen
Edition
Qing dynasty edition, 1667
Repository
University of Washington Libraries
Call number
DS707.S4 1667
Responsible person
Wu Renchen (1628–1689), compiler-commentator
Image note
This page presents a historical crop and retains the work, edition, and repository trail for verification
P/ADIGITAL RECONSTRUCTION
Original transparent-background realist reconstruction of the Nine-tailed Fox, with nine tails spreading naturally from a dense rootOpen web preview ↗

Digital reconstructionShanhai Wonders™ | 山海萬象志

The reconstruction preserves the fox form, four feet and nine tails, while using plausible fox anatomy, gravity and a shared tail root to reinterpret the old image. Coat, light, gait and habitat are artistic reconstructions—not a mechanical colourisation or the only possible reading.

TEXT

Recorded in the text

Fox-shaped, with nine tails and a cry compared to an infant.

IMAGE

Visible in the old image

A fox-like head, four feet, bundled spreading tails, and a posture belonging to the historical pictorial tradition.

INFERENCE

Modern reconstruction

Coat colour, musculature, fur detail, tail-root structure, age, lighting, and specific habitat.

Citation and research boundary

The complete historical figure shown here was supplied by the project owner for version and morphology research. Before commercial publication, the full repository scan must still be checked for the exact volume, folio, digital-object link, and repository terms. The modern composition, materials, and rendered artwork are independent project creations.

01 / FIELD NOTE

Field note

A dangerous creature of Mount Qingqiu: fox-shaped, nine-tailed, and crying like an infant. Later romance and shapeshifting lore belongs to a different tradition.

02 / RECONSTRUCTION

Original reconstruction

Built on real fox anatomy and gait; nine independently moving tails form an asymmetrical fan from the sacrum. Coat colour, body size and tail arrangement are artistic reconstruction.

Colour, material and movement not stated in the source are evidence-led artistic reconstructions.
CLASSIC STORY · 經典故事

The Changing Nine Tails of Qingqiu

青丘九尾的流變
Source description + later cultural development

The Shanhaijing first presents the Nine-tailed Fox as a dangerous man-eating being of Mount Qingqiu. Later traditions added auspicious, numinous and shapeshifting meanings, while fiction developed extensive fox-spirit tales. These layers shaped the modern image but should not be read back into the source passage.

Reading boundary: later auspicious, shapeshifting, and fox-spirit traditions are cultural developments, not claims made by the source passage.
THREE READING ANCHORS · 三個閱讀錨點

Three distinctions worth keeping

One enduring figure becomes clearer when source, later reception, and reconstruction remain distinct.

  1. 01 · SOURCE

    The source creature is not a romantic figure

    The Southern Mountains places it at Mount Qingqiu: fox-shaped, nine-tailed, crying like an infant, able to eat people, with eating it associated with freedom from gu.

  2. 02 · RECEPTION

    Auspiciousness and shapeshifting came later

    Later traditions added numinous, auspicious, shapeshifting, and romantic meanings. They explain the modern afterlife of the image, not the original passage.

  3. 03 · RECONSTRUCTION

    A credible reconstruction is not an ancient fact

    Brown coat, shared tail root, age, moonlight, and the Qingqiu habitat are original choices informed by fox anatomy and scene logic—not facts stated by the text.

PLACE & HABITAT · 主場與棲境

Mount Qingqiu

青丘之山
W狐E

This diagram expresses textual direction and relation only; it does not claim unverified modern coordinates.

Web terrain layer of the Shanhaijing World Atlas showing the Southern Mountains, the first Southern route, and the Mount Qingqiu home anchorSOUTHERN MOUNTAINS南山經FIRST SOUTHERN ROUTE南山經第一列Mount Qingqiu青丘之山
The Shanhaijing World Atlas · Southern Mountains
HOME RANGE

Mount Qingqiu · eighth mountain on the first Southern route

The source places the Nine-tailed Fox at Mount Qingqiu. Region, route and mountain appear together so the creature remains legible within its world. This atlas position follows textual order; it is not a claim of modern latitude and longitude.

Open the Shanhaijing World Atlas ↗
SCENES OF QINGQIU · 青丘景象

One species, two moments in Qingqiu.

Dawn catches a young fox crossing rain-dark stone; moonlight holds the adult among layered peaks and cloud.

Juvenile brown-red Nine-tailed Fox walking through Qingqiu after rain at dawn, with eight tail tips visible and the ninth naturally partly occluded
Qingqiu after rainAfter rain, a young fox crosses the shining stone.
Moonlit Nine-tailed Fox among the mountains of Qingqiu
Between mountains and watersMoonlight crosses the peaks as nine tails open to the night.
FREE WALLPAPERS · 免費壁紙

Let the Nine-tailed Fox inhabit every screen.

Four independently composed screen ratios—not mechanical crops. Open any framed preview to view the full-size wallpaper in a new page. Free editions carry a light brand mark.

Shanhai Wonders™ | 山海萬象志Free for personal screens. No resale, redistribution, merchandise, or AI training. Collectible 4K and 8K editions are managed separately.
SOURCES, RIGHTS & METHOD · 來源、權利與方法

Make every claim traceable.

TEXT

Shanhaijing · Classic of the Southern Mountains

The source passage and modern explanation are presented separately, so the ancient record remains distinct from its present-day reading.

IMAGE

Wu Renchen, Shanhaijing Guangzhu (1667)

University of Washington Libraries; call number DS707.S4 1667.

RECONSTRUCTION

Shanhai Wonders™ | 山海萬象志

The digital reconstruction respects text and image, then uses fox anatomy, gravity, habitat, and light to create a credible living form.

RELATED OBJECTS · 相關對象
LushuSouthern Mountains · Mount Niuyang→XuanguiSouthern Mountains · Guai Water→FenghuangSouthern Mountains · Mount Danxue→