A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

In the account attributed to Im Bang, the young Yi Kwai studies late in a pavilion behind his father’s official residence. A neatly dressed young woman enters, silently takes a seat and answers his questions only with a smile. He does not recognise her among the household’s performers and suspects a goblin or fox.

He lifts her onto his back and runs toward the inhabited quarters, calling for help. No one wakes; she bites his neck until he releases her and she escapes. The narrator treats the bite as confirming a fox identity, but does not narrate a visible change into an animal or give a number of tails. The unnamed visitor is therefore presented as the fox of this particular story, rather than labelled automatically as a nine-tailed kumiho.

Woman-shaped foxTale-specific identity
01

Origins & earliest records

Korea; tale-specific historical narrative

02

Records & interpretation

Complete story and attribution read in the 1913 English witness; no independent confirmation of supernatural events.

In the literature

“bit him furiously at the nape of the neck.”
Im Bang · Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies
Tale3, A Story of the Fox, printed p.28 (Gutenberg markers 40) · James S. Gale

The silent woman bites Yi Kwai after he carries her out of the pavilion.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies

    Im Bang; translated by James S. Gale · 1913

    Tale 3, “A Story of the Fox”, printed pp. 26–28 (Gutenberg page labels 38–40). English translation date, not the date of the narrated event.

  2. 02

    Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies — A Story of the Fox

    Im Bang · 1913

    London:J.M.Dent/NewYork:E.P.Dutton1913, title page explicitly dated. Gale preface says Im Bang material came from an old manuscript obtained a year earlier; other Yi Ryuk/anonymous material is separate. Every selected chapter closes Im Bang. English text, preface and selected writer notes read, no independent Korean manuscript collation. University of Toronto Gale archival finding aid confirms1913 publication/death1937: https://discoverarchives.library.utoronto.ca/downloads/james-scarth-gale-papers.pdf . Pagination corrected2026-10-05: PG51002 body markers exceed printed1913 pages by12; physical pages in retained Korea176 PDF equal printed+16. Exact quotation page independently checked in retained scan OCR; page pixels not newly reviewed here.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Direct primary record

Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies

Im Bang; James S. Gale translation, London Dent/New York Dutton, 1913. Tale 3, “A Story of the Fox”, pp. 38–40

Complete story and author signature read from cached Gutenberg51002 HTML. Translator’s bracketed introductions and author notes distinguished from narrative. No illustration claimed.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies

London:J.M.Dent/NewYork:E.P.Dutton1913, title page explicitly dated. Gale preface says Im Bang material came from an old manuscript obtained a year earlier; other Yi Ryuk/anonymous material is separate. Every selected chapter closes Im Bang. English text, preface and selected writer notes read, no independent Korean manuscript collation. University of Toronto Gale archival finding aid confirms1913 publication/death1937: https://discoverarchives.library.utoronto.ca/downloads/james-scarth-gale-papers.pdf . Pagination corrected2026-10-05: PG51002 body markers exceed printed1913 pages by12; physical pages in retained Korea176 PDF equal printed+16. Exact quotation page independently checked in retained scan OCR; page pixels not newly reviewed here.

  1. During his father’s inspection tour Yi Kwai studies in the rear pavilion. A neat, pretty woman appears, smiling without explaining herself. Suspecting goblin or fox, he catches her, carries her toward the household and calls for help. No one wakes. She bites his neck until he releases her, then escapes. Im Bang’s ending regrets that nobody secured the creature.

    Tale3, A Story of the Fox, printed pp.26–28 (Gutenberg markers 38–40), full account

The narrator/character treats the bite as confirmation of fox identity, but no actual fox transformation, number of tails or kumiho identification occurs. Bracketed long-lived-animal commentary is historical framing, not zoological evidence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical primary narrative translationTale 3, “A Story of the Fox”, printed pp. 26–28 (Gutenberg page labels 38–40) — Im Bang, Gale translationResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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