What is "daji"

Daji or Da Ji , was the favorite consort of King Zhou of Shang, the last king of the Shang dynasty in ancient China. She is portrayed as a malevolent fox spirit in legends as well as novels. Her identification as a fox spirit seems to have originated from at least the Tang dynasty. These accounts have been popularized in works such as the Wu Wang Fa Zhou Pinghua (武王伐紂平話), the Fengshen Yanyi, and the Chronicles of the Eastern Zhou Kingdoms. She is considered a classic example of how a beauty causes the downfall of a dynasty in Chinese culture.

In the Song dynasty, fox spirit cults, including those dedicated to Daji, became outlawed, although their suppression proved unsuccessful. In 1111, an imperial edict was issued for the destruction of many spirit shrines within Kaifeng, including those of Daji.