Talk:Huli jing

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I'm wondering if this article should be merged with Kitsune. Although I've already suggested a merging Fox_Fairy with this article, it may be that the nature of the mythological Kitsune and its Chinese and Korean equivalents warrants a seperate article outside of Kitsune for the full explanation of characteristics.

Input from anyone more knowledgeable in this field (especially concerning the fox spirits of China and Korea) is appreciated.

- Sasuke Sarutobi 00:53, 23 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Merging

I'm not an expert but reading the articles suggests that the three are discussing essentially the same subject. The Japanese and Chinese traditions are very similar and differences could easily be discussed in one article. The Korean Kuniho is distinct from the Chinese and Japanese foxes in several ways so a seprerate article for that is logical. I agree though that Fox spirit, Kitsune, and Fox Fairy should be merged. Of the three Kitsune is the most detailed and should probably be the main article.

As Kitsune is simply the Japanese word for fox, and the Kitsune article is a discussion of the Japanese fox in its cultural/folkloric context, I don't think it's appropriate to group Chinese fox spirits under the Kitsune heading. Although there is some crossover between the two, they are both quite distinct, each tied to its own cultural heritage, just as the Korean fox spirits are. While I'm not certain it's necessary to group them together at all, I would have less objection to grouping them all under a single "fox spirit" category, simply because, despite the term being a translation of the Chinese name, the term itself contains no reference to country/culture of origin, whereas Kitsune (when used in English) refers specifically to Japanese foxes. Raksi 08:02, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

I would propose instead moving this article to Huli jing (the Chinese name of the mythical creature) and making Fox spirit into a disambiguation page pointing to that, Kitsune, and Kumiho. "Fox spirit" is used as a translation in all three cases, but there's too much that can be said about each to merge the three into a single article. (Besides, I'm of the opinion that creatures from folklore deserve articles of their own in almost all cases.) Shimeru 22:31, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

Since this in English wikipedia, consider Fox spirit (China), Fox spirit (Japan) etc. -- Beardo 16:29, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

English or not, we should use the proper terminology, which is the native one. Goldfritha 16:44, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Fox fairies are different from fox spirits, fox spirits are not as powerful as fox fairies and are totally evil. While the fox fairies are foxes who spend much longer time in Taoist practice and become immortals, they are not as evil as fox fairies, in fact some of them are willing to help people. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Shinbu3 (talk • contribs) 17:46, 15 January 2007 (UTC).

Merging all articles would result in a lot of confusion. Chinese, Japanese and Korean fox spirits should be covered in separate articles, just as it is now. What I find stunning is that the oldest tradition of fox spirits, i.e. Chinese, is covered in the shortest article of the three. I'm currently doing a research on the subject, so hopefully I'll be able to add my two cents in a while. Dawidbernard 09:43, 17 January 2007 (UTC)