Atop one of the entrance gates to the city there was a big container of water that was functioning as a wishing well. This paper money hadn't yet sunk to the bottom.
This image not only expresses the ephemeral nature of wishing. It speaks to the nature of value as well. This is money that has, in effect, been discarded, and we see it drifting here on a mysterious surface. It makes us want to reach out and grab it, put it in our own pocket. But wait -- a closer look tells us that this bill is not even worth 14 cents -- the value of one Chinese Yuan. It is worth less than one tenth of one cent. By itself, it will buy nothing. Whatever value it may have is purely symbolic, rather than economic. You give us here a lesson in illusions, Tim..
