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We were treated to a friendly dinner after the festival was concluded. At the dinner, we were presented a piece of Chinese art, a scene of Lu Mountain embroidered in silk. Jacky accepted the gift for us with a speech, in which he explained our mission in China.
After the official part of the welcome ceremony to the city was dispensed with, I asked Jacky to inquire with the head man if there might be an artist in the city who could create a Chinese style poster for me, personally.
"What kind of poster?" an older man asked from across the table. He spoke in broken English."
"A standard size poster with a three letter symbol inside a circle, surrounded by two dragons facing each other," I replied.
"I can do this for you," the man replied. He wore long gray hair and an almost as long, gray beard. "Come to my shop tomorrow and it will be done. Except, you have to tell me what the symbol is and what it means," he said, "so that I can create the right mood to match the symbol."
"The first part is easy," I said and bowed to the man as I thanked him for his kind offer. "The letters for the symbol are, CSD. Their meaning, however, is not that easily explained."
"I need to know, to be able to create the right mood," the artist repeated.
Since this was China and I lacked the means to explain in simple terms the scientific significance of the letters, the thought came to mind to create a story to convey the message. I told the man that, he being an artist would have the gift to determine the mood by listening to my story that presents in metaphor an extremely complex scientific issue.
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