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Sat 08 Aug 2008Superstitious Olympic nation hopes eclipse signals the end of an unlucky year
CHINA:Earthquakes, floods, Tibet - now, an eclipse so close to the Olympics has everyone worried, writes Clifford Coonan
FOR THE ancient Chinese, a solar eclipse was a dire warning, a portent of doom that would send the entire court into panic, prompting the emperor to avoid eating meat, shun the palace and read oracle bones to find out the meaning of the phenomenon.
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