Bestiary · Chinese · Impostor
Fox bodhisattva
Also known as: Holy Bodhisattva
A recurring disguise: foxes posing as bodhisattvas and Buddhas to win worship, offerings, or a household's daughters.
Foxes in these tales often pose as Buddhist holy figures. A vixen is revered at Empress Wu's court as a living bodhisattva until the monk Da'an tests her. Others appear as Maitreya in Taiyuan, a Brahmin monk leading women to "Paradise" among the graves, a bodhisattva on a lion, Manjushri at a vegetarian feast, and a Buddha who persuades monks to eat meat. They are usually exposed by a learned monk, a Daoist, or a doubting son.