Daji Bewitches the Shang

The Nine-Tailed Fox at Court

A fox spirit in the body of Daji leads King Zhou into tyranny until the Shang dynasty falls.

When King Zhou of Shang profanes the temple of Nüwa with a poem, the goddess sends a thousand-year fox spirit to inhabit the body of Daji, daughter of the Marquis of Su. As the king’s consort, Daji invents the burning pillar, builds the wine pool and flesh forest, kills Bi Gan and imprisons the Earl of the West, driving the dynasty to ruin. At Muye, heaven’s mandate passes to Zhou — and the fox, at last, is caught.