Kumiho

Kumiho
Hangul	구미호
Hanja	九尾狐
Revised Romanization	gumiho
McCune–Reischauer	gumiho

The gumiho (구미호 / 구 "gu" - nine) (literally "nine tailed fox") is a creature that appears in the oral tales and legends of Korea, and are akin to European fairies. According to those tales, a fox that lives a thousand years turns into a gumiho, like its Japanese and Chinese counterparts (the kitsune and the huli jing). It can freely transform, among other things, into a beautiful girl often set out to seduce men, and eat their liver. There are numerous tales in which the gumiho appears. Several of those can be found in the encyclopedic Compendium of Korean Oral Literature (한국 구비문학 대계).

Transformation

A nine-tailed fox, from the Qing edition of the Shan Hai Jing. Fox spirits of Chinese folklore are similar to gumiho.

A gumiho [구미호] is a nine-tailed fox, a legendary creature with origins in ancient Chinese myths dating back centuries. There are versions of the figure in Chinese and Japanese folklore, although each differs slightly. The Chinese huli jing and the Japanese kitsune have more ambiguous moral compasses, in that they can be both good and bad, and are not necessarily out to get everyone. The Korean gumiho, on the other hand, is almost always a malignant figure, a carnivore who feasts on human flesh. Legends tell that while the Kumiho is capable of changing its appearance, there is still something persistently fox-like about it; its countenance changes, but its nature does not. In Transformation of the Kumiho (구미호의 변신), a kumiho transforms into an identical likeness of a bride at a wedding. Not even the bride's mother can tell the difference. The kumiho is only discovered when her clothes are removed. Bakh Mun-su and the kumiho (박문수와 구미호) records an encounter that Pak Munsu has with a girl, living alone in the woods, that has a fox-like appearance. In The Maiden who Discovered a Kumiho through a Chinese Poem (한시로 구미호를 알아낸 처녀) the kumiho was ultimately revealed when a hunting dog caught the scent of the fox and attacked. According to legend, a fox that lives a thousand years turns into a gumiho, a shape-shifter who can appear in the guise of a woman. A gumiho is evil by nature, and feeds on either human hearts or livers (different legends specify one or the other) in order to survive. The Chinese huli jing is said to be made up of feminine energy (yin) and needs to consume male energy (yang) to survive. The Japanese kitsune can be either male or female, and can choose to be quite benevolent.

The Korean gumiho is traditionally female. Some can hide their gumiho features, while other myths indicate that they can’t fully transform (ie. a fox-like face or set of ears, or the tell-tale nine tails). Either way there is usually at least one physical trait that will prove their true gumiho form, or a magical way to force them to reveal this form.

Much like werewolves or vampires in Western lore, there are always variations on the myth depending on the liberties that each story takes with the legend. Some tales say that if a gumiho abstains from killing and eating humans for a thousand days, it can become human. Others, like the drama Gumiho: Tale of the Fox’s Child, say that a gumiho can become human if the man who sees her true nature keeps it a secret for ten years. Regardless of each story’s own rules, a few things are always consistent: a gumiho is always a fox, a woman, a shape-shifter, and a carnivore. Now on to the cultural meanings. A fox is a common figure in many different cultures that represents a trickster or a smart but wicked creature that steals or outwits others into getting what it wants. Anyone who grew up on Aesop’s Fables knows the classic iteration of the fox figure in folklore. And it’s not hard to see how the fox got such a bad reputation. The animal is a nocturnal hunter and a thief by nature, and is known the world over for its cunning mind. Although it is typically depicted as a woman when it transforms into a human being, the kumiho in the tale of The Maiden who Discovered a Kumino through a Chinese Poem (한시로 구미호를 알아낸 처녀) turns into a young man that attempts to trick the maiden in marrying him. However, this is the only case in which it transforms into a man.

Although they are considered as having the ability to morph into other forms, the true identity of a Kumiho was said to be zealously guarded by the Kumihos themselves. There are also legends in which these transformations are said to be involuntary.

History

It is unclear at which point in time Koreans began viewing the Kumiho as a purely evil creature, since many of the ancient texts mention benevolent Gumihos assisting humans. In fact, many older texts make more frequent mentions of wicked humans tricking kind but naïve Gumihos.

As the mythology of the Gumiho evolved, it was later believed that a Gumiho had to consume human hearts in order to survive. In later literature they are often depicted as a blood-thirsty half-fox, half-human creature that wandered cemeteries at night, digging human hearts out from graves.

Like all other monsters, the Gumiho was thought to grow wise with age and with enough training, eventually learn to morph itself into various forms, including humans. Thus, they are often depicted as beautiful young maidens that trick unsuspecting men and later consume their hearts.

Another version was that the Gumiho must eat livers. This was because the liver contained the energy of a human, meaning that it processes the food and gives energy, therefore making it the container of the life force of a human. The fairy tale The Fox Sister depicts a fox spirit preying on a family for livers.

Another version of the mythology, however, holds that with enough will a Gumiho could further ascend from its Yokwe state and become fully, permanently human and lose its evil character. Explanations of how this could be achieved vary, but they sometimes include aspects such as refraining from killing or tasting meat for a thousand days, or obtaining a cintamani and making sure that the Yeoiju saw the full moon at least every month during the ordeal. Unlike Yeoiju wielding dragons, Gumiho were not thought to be capable of omnipotence or creation at will since they were lesser creatures.

The idea of a beast becoming fully human is in fact quite heavily embedded in Korean mythology, such as the case in which a bear becomes a woman through a harsh ordeal in the Dangun mythology.

Trivia

A Gumiho (구미호) is one of the creatures in the category of Monster(요괴) and therefore usually not included among the seven Ghost(귀신) or God (신) categories.

TV adaptation

In 2010, SBS broadcast a romantic comedy drama, My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox. It is about a gumiho who escaped from the painting of Grandma Samshin (三神) after 500 years, it was made possible because of it asking a man to draw nine tails on the painting. It was revealed that 500 years before, she went down to the earth, she was said to be the prettiest woman bewitching all men around her. Wanting to be a human, she Grandma Samshin said that if she found a husband, she could stay as a human permanently. She failed at finding for a husband because of rumors saying she eats human liver. The rumor was spread by the women of the village, who didn't want to lose their sons and husbands to the Gumiho. When the man who freed her fell from a cliff, the gumiho saved him by giving her fox-bead (여우 구슬). Since her bead is with him, she is to stay with him so she won't lose her aura. Near around the series a hunter who is half human comes to find her and kill her to bring her back. He falls in love with her because he had once killed her and sent her into the painting (which she does not remember). In the end, he tries to help her become ordinary.

The drama shows that the gumiho is afraid of large bodies of water whenever her bead is not with her. A gumiho can run faster than cars, can jump high as the tallest trees, can fly, never feel pain (only if the fox-bead is with her), eats a LOT of meat (especially beef), white in color, its eyes turn blue making them scary and showcases its nine-tails whenever the moon is present.

In the same year KBS also created a series based on the gumiho entitled Grudge: The Revolt of Gumiho.

Movie Adaptations

1994 The Fox with Nine Tails
2006 The Fox Family a musical comedy that takes place in a circus
2007 Yobi, the Five Tailed Fox animated film
2010 My Girlfriend is a Gumiho drama

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• History of Korea
• Culture of Korea
• Kitsune, a Japanese fox spirit
• Huli jing a Chinese fox spirit