Daji 妲己
Under the name Daji, Chinese literature knows both the court favourite credited with influencing the last ruler of Shang and the nine-tailed fox who took the girl's place on the road to the palace. In Hong Kong this story was filmed as far back as the era of Cantonese opera films. Later it was retold on television for decades, and on the big screen the fox once again found herself beside a king who counts on her help in the struggle for the throne.
What is known about Daji (妲己) comes mainly from accounts written centuries after the fall of Shang. In Sima Qian's "Basic Annals of Yin" she is the favourite of the last Shang ruler, Xin, known as King Zhou. He obeys her in everything and orders his court musician to compose new melodies. In the same chapter Sima Qian describes the feasts at Shaqiu, where by the king's command a pond of wine was made and meat hung on the trees. In the account of the dynasty's fall, Daji influences the king, but the decisions are his own. It is Xin who orders the death of the adviser Bi Gan, who dared to contradict him. After the defeat at Muye the king throws himself into the fire, and the victor, King Wu, has Daji executed. What role she actually played at court is hard to judge from this chapter.
In the Ming-era novel "Investiture of the Gods" ("Fengshen Yanyi"), Su Daji is the daughter of the general Su Hu. Her father takes her to court and stops to spend the night on the way. There the girl is killed by a nine-tailed fox, which the goddess Nuwa sent to destroy the dynasty after the king insulted her in her temple. Su Hu brings to the palace only the spirit in the daughter's form. The king becomes infatuated with Daji and spends months in her company, while reports pile up unanswered at court. Later the fox, under the girl's name, also takes part in the reprisals against those who try to bring the king to his senses.
Daji came to Hong Kong cinema from the opera stage. Chun Siu-Lei played her in Tan Kei in the Meat Hill (1949), based on the Cantonese opera of the same name, and returned to the role a year later in Magic of Tiger Dragon. On television the character was played by Meg Lam and Fu Yi-Wei: both series were titled God's Parade and aired in 1981 and 1990 respectively. In the Hong Kong Gods of Honour (2001) the role went to Irene Wan, and in the mainland The Legend and the Hero (2006) to Fan Bing-Bing.
In the animated film Jiang Zi Ya (2020) the nine-tailed fox is voiced by Ji Guan-Lin. Heaven orders Jiang Zi-Ya to destroy her, but he learns that a girl may die along with the spirit and refuses to carry out the command. In Creation of The Gods Ⅰ: Kingdom of Storms (2023) by Wuershan, Daji was played by Na Ran. Yin Shou knows who hides beneath the girl's form and strikes a deal with the fox. He is only about to seize the throne, and he already needs her powers.
