According to historical records, Da Ji was the daughter of a noble family during 1047 B.C. The leader of Shang during this time, Zhou, conquered the state that Da Ji lived in and took her as his trophy. Zhou became a great leader, bringing the state of Sheng to its fullest potential. He was considered strong, heroic, and even well versed in music. His one weakness was Da Ji. He did everything she asked of him and tried to make her as happy as possible simply out of his love for her. King Zhou would go over-the-top on anything related to Da Ji. One day, Zhou invited guests to his house to play a cat and mouse game in the nude so that Da Ji would laugh. The daughter of Lord Jiu became offended and protested against this act. As consequence, the daughter was slain along with her father.

Da Ji took after Zhou and became a tyrant. She loved to her people cry and watch them suffer. She would murder people out of simple curiosity. She even invented her own torture device so that she could listen to people’s screams. During this time, the song of Ji Chang, the leader of the Zhou tribe, visited Shang and had a love affair with Da Ji. As a reaction, Zhou had him killed and locked up his father, who was released two years later. Ji Chang’s youngest son, Ji Fa, came back for revenge twelve years later. The attack was relatively easy because the entire tribe began to hate Zhou and his tyranny. With Zhou seeing his fate, he committed suicide and left Da Ji to fend for herself. She was put to death soon after by Ji Fa.

No one knows if any of this actually occurred, making it a legend. In addition to this story, Da Ji is viewed in a unique light as the story is retold again and again. She is viewed as a fox spirit, specifically a nine-tailed fox. These spirits are typically depicted as mischievous with the ability to disguise themselves as a beautiful woman. There are many stories of various fox spirits in all Asian cultures, but they originated in China. The Tang Dynasty (618 A.C to 907 A.C) really carried the creation of these spirits by worshiping them and sacrificing to them in order to avoid coming into contact with the spirits. When thinking of Da Ji, stories are told where her nine-tails could periodically be seen. She was also a common center focus as a fox spirit for the Tang Dynasty cults’ worships.

Fox spirits may not be as haunting as they used to be, but they are still a spirit viewed in traditions and religions throughout Asia. They are represented in television series and books. The folklore of Da Ji continues to be passed down to present-day generations.