I heard that there is a custom of offering sacrifices to fox spirits in Chinese mainland. I wonder if it's true.

Fox Fairy, also known as Fox Fairy, is commonly known as Daxian among the people. It's powerful and can become human. After the decline of Taoism, the so-called "five immortals" were worshipped by the people. "Five Immortals", also called "Five Masters" or "Five Immortals", respectively refer to: Fox Immortal (Fox), Huang Xian (Weasel), White Immortal (Hedgehog), Liu Immortal (Snake) and Grey Immortal (Mouse). In China's myth of defending morality and exorcising evil spirits, foxes can become people by absorbing the essence or popularity of the sun and the moon. It is said that foxes need to be transformed into humans. "Miscellanies of Youyang" records: "As the old saying goes, a wild fox is called a purple fox, and it will be strange to hit its tail at night. You must wear a skull to worship the Beidou, or you will become an adult if you don't fall." It is said that "the pearl in the fox's mouth, if available, should be loved by the whole world." The fox demon turns into a beautiful woman to seduce a strong man or a girl. In the 453rd chapter of Taiping Guangji, Zhang described a woman who was charmed by a fox: "The woman is full of makeup and well dressed, and she seems to be talking and laughing with others in the boudoir. When he left, he cried. " . As for the kind fox, it appears in tang legends's biography of Ren. The fox fairy stone man keeps his virginity and keeps the house, so Shen Jiji lamented: "The love of foreign bodies is also humane! In case of violence, I am willing to die for others, although women are inferior today. " . In the 453rd chapter of Tai Ping Guang Ji, Ji Zhen's wife told her husband that she was a fox before she died, but Ji Zhen still loved her until she died. In Pu Songling's novel Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio, the story of a kind fox fairy falling in love with a mortal is often described. Due to the decline of Taoism, there is a belief in fox spirits in northern China, praying for them to protect their food year after year. There is also a folk saying that the fox spirit descended to earth, that is, a person with all his senses open can predict bad luck after being possessed by the fox spirit. "The Tale of the North Dream Cangzhu People" contains: "(Fox) or singing in the village, there are ominous things." "Xuan Shi Li Zhigu" records that Guli saw a white fox hitting a stone in the court, which was considered as a symbol of good luck at that time. Later, he really became an assistant minister of does.

Nowadays, many cities generally have top incense to see a doctor. The so-called top incense doctor refers to a professional wizard who worships fox spirits, can communicate with ghosts and gods, can tell people's fortunes and can cure people's disasters. Especially in northern rural areas or cities, there are many old ladies or young women watching incense, and now many men know this well. Because the worship of immortals such as fox, yellow, white and willow doesn't need to follow the rules, discipline and hard work like Taoism, more and more people worship them, and there is a saying that there are ten fragrances and nine immortals. That is, ten people burn incense, and nine people are Fox and Yellow Fairy Hall.

The immortals in northern China are different from Taoist immortals in concept and form. Taoism divides immortals into five categories, namely, immortals, immortals, immortals, immortals and ghost immortals. Those who practice Tao with aura but are not canonized are called scattered immortals. It refers to the immortal status that people or other good spirits gain by observing precepts and virtues, rules and ways, and practicing in a certain way. They regard right as immortal and evil as evil.

In the north, the immortal generally refers to the fox fairy, and the immortal worshipped by Taoism is called Shangxian. And it's not just fox spirits. As long as they think that the other party has aura, they are all called immortals, and they worship, so there are Huang Xian, Snake Fairy, Python Fairy, Tiger Fairy, Wolf Fairy and Eagle Fairy. , commonly known as Hu, Huang, Bai and Liu, also known as "Fairy Hall" and "Tangkou". Believers are very subjective and random, often suspicious, and even a dream will affect their behavior. Most of the immortals come to seek medical treatment, and they also pray for the safety of their families. Therefore, the immortals generally referred to by the northern folks refer to animal immortals such as foxes, yellows, snakes and pythons.

The Chinese nation has worshipped foxes for thousands of years, which originated from the concept of "animism" in primitive society. Think of it as a totem and an elf, and you can cultivate immortality. The so-called "the old man of things is good at being a man" has been recorded in Shan Hai Jing, an ancient book before Qin Dynasty.

According to folklore, foxes can be refined into human forms and possess great magic power. If humans don't respect them, they will use their skills to deceive people. People worship the fox spirit to avoid disaster and pray for peace.

There are generally two ways to worship fox spirits among the people. One is to set up a shrine in the living room at home; Another way of offering sacrifices is to build a "Fox Fairy Building" in the corner of the courtyard to offer sacrifices to the memorial tablet of Fox Fairy.

The worship of fox spirits in the north originated from ancient legends and the inheritance of shaman culture in the north.

"Going out" means that fox spirits are attached to people. People possessed by fox spirits can communicate with ghosts and gods, which is also called seeing incense and leaving the hall. Influenced by shaman culture, a kind of folk witchcraft has formed in northern China. Legend has it that wizards possessed by immortals can communicate with ghosts and gods and transmit information. It is a profession based on the exchange of information between mortals and ghosts. Its duty is to upload and publish, bring the will of ghosts and gods to mortals, and then convey the demands of mortals to ghosts and gods. Believers are called "disciples". This culture has been passed down to today and evolved into the form of a horse. There are generally two kinds of fate between disciples and immortals, one is the fate of past lives, and the other is the fate of this life. Eternal fate refers to the legacy left by ancestors, or their interaction in previous lives. The earthly fate refers to my devout faith, which was selected by the immortal family and called "catching fragrant seeds" and "grinding disciples".

Horses are generally more common in the north, and they are called South Horses and North Horses. "Going out" refers to some animal immortals, such as foxes, snakes and weasels. People who practice for hundreds of years, then come to every place to collect people and improve their skills for their own cultivation; Or in order to win the title of heaven, come to earth to accumulate virtue, in order to rank among the immortals and become a god who is cultivating immortals.

Among the animal immortals worshipped by the people, fox, yellow, snake and python are the most common and have the highest morality, so they are called the four immortals, among which Jinhua, Yinhua, Hu Santai and Hu Santai are the most famous.

People who are eager to go out with a fairy family often get some strange diseases, commonly known as "Moxiangzi". After grinding off the mundane mind of Xiangtong, you will hold a dream, guide the maze in the dream and guide other masters who can bring you fragrance. This master, commonly known as "Great God", brought an apprentice named "Er Shen". The two will invite all the immortals who follow you out, let them give their names through their own mouths, and then write their names on the red cloth in turn for worship, and then let the immortals choose one or more leaders, but this process is called "pulling the flower pole". The "flower plucking pole" will be held after 7 pm. Ten fragrant flowers will be hung on the five-pronged willow branches with red lines, cut into five strings of little people with five-color paper, representing five immortals, and covered with red cloth. Then the two gods will sing fairy songs, commonly known as divine comedy. After a period of time, the immortals around you will be fascinated to speak and sign up. Then tie up five doors on five sides, with the East Gate looking at the "Tang Master", the North Gate looking at the "Horse Report", the South Gate looking at the "Monument King" and the other two gates looking at the "Leader". After seeing his master fox spirit appear, he has the conditions to "go out". After this process, the immortals around you can be possessed at any time. This is the so-called "possessed fairy" and "out of the horse fairy".

According to the length and ability of practice, Ma Xian is divided into site fairy and upper fairy. Site fairy is also called earth fairy and grass fairy. General practice time is less than 500 years. The immortals in the sky are divided into the immortals in the clouds and the immortals above the gods. The fairy in the clouds is also called the cloud fairy. Generally, after more than 500 years of practice, he can speak cosmic language and write Sanskrit. Immortals above the throne refer to practicing 1500 years or more, and their ability is also higher than that of Yunxian.

After practicing Taoism, foxes, yellow snakes, pythons, etc. , trying to win the title of heaven, and arrested his disciples for their hard work. However, because many disciples didn't understand the rules of space, accumulated virtue and did good deeds, or made mistakes, which violated the original intention of the fox spirit, so that the four immortals around them were punished by heaven and failed to achieve enlightenment. Immortals turn around to punish their disciples, and more often they return to their original forms. There are also those who do not strictly control the entrance to the newspaper hall and are possessed by evil spirits. After possession, they collect essence and steal qi for a long time, and they cannot recover from illness and strange things.

Playing tricks is the only process of "getting out of the horse" Atangkou wants to go out, so the immortal family should play the apprentice's tricks first. This is what is commonly called creation. After the eyes are opened during the day, disciples occasionally see things and things that ordinary people can't see, including their own fairy homes, other people's fairy homes, and other supernatural scenes.

In addition, there are horse races, competitions, seven-star worship, posing as models, asking for instructions from the top and so on. With these conditions, it is said that you can go out.