Chinese Wutu "Tiger Dance" (Reuters/National Geographic)
Qinghai, China, December 17, 2008 -- Aptly patterned men perform the Wutu, or "Tiger," dance, meant to dispel disease and exorcise evil, in the Chinese village of Nianduhu. This ancient ritual is performed every winter and is based on a local legend. A princess fell ill, the story goes, and neither medicine nor magic could cure her, according to chinaculture.org. The king had his soldiers take off their clothes, paint their bodies, and dance to exorcise the princess's demons. She recovered.
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