In the winter, when the light is low, the retreating tide pulls the last grains of water into shallow rivulets that form shapes and shadows of beautiful contour and texture. These ethereal images remind me of the Chinese concept of ‘li’ and of the organic patterns that shape our visual understanding of the universe.

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Alan Watts, the great western Taoist philosopher, described ‘li’ as ‘the order of flow, the wonderful dancing pattern of liquid’.