Power figure

In a small house at the edge of a Songye village, a ritual expert would have kept a large power figure. Contrary to the much smaller personal power figures, these communally owned ones were invoked for general welfare and protection against illness, sorcery, and war. The three horns atop this figure’s head once contained substances that enhanced its mystical power. When impending danger was sensed, two men would carry the figure through the village to ward off evil, holding it with wooden poles passed under its armpits.