In the some areas of China(especially in the Northeast China),people believe that some animals like foxes,weasles and even rats have special sprits that chould be “仙”（Read as "xian","Sin"is the Cantonese pronunciation of "仙". ）
different from fairy,"xian" or "sin" are not limited to refer to female,they can also be used to refer to male who has the same nature of fairy.
I'm really fond the culture of East Asia like Chinese culture and Japanese culture :)