Henry, that American master of surprise endings, the original intention of the Artemisia tapestries was fulfilled after all.

ECONOMIST: Renaissance tapestries

The good news is that Mr Yan and others are optimistic that Artemisia prices will stabilise next year.

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Although sometimes populism sails close to the wind of dumbing down (a comic book showing a futuristic Artemisia, for example), the results can be imaginative.

ECONOMIST: Renaissance tapestries

The Artemisia tapestries, especially those based on Caron's drawings, are dazzling.

ECONOMIST: Renaissance tapestries

Absinthe is distilled with the leaves of the herb Artemisia absinthium, known as grande wormwood, which contains the drink's "special ingredient", thujone, which reputedly has mind-altering effects.

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One way would be to increase the production of Artemisia.

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As Mr Yan points out, farming Artemisia not only gives firms more control over their supply, but also helps reduce the loss of biodiversity that comes from picking wild plants.

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Brewed from a concoction of natural herbs, true absinthe includes three crucial elements: anise, fennel and Artemisia absinthium (grand wormwood, used as a remedy since the time of the ancient Egyptians).

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Artemisia grows like a weed across China and South-East Asia, but the best plants are found only in certain parts of China, such as Guangxi and Hunan, which produce most of the world's supply, and in Vietnam.

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In tribal myths, apparently diverse and arbitrary elements eruptions by lizards and woodpeckers, the significance of black arrows or the artemisia plant were suddenly revealed to have a universal unity at their heart, a quest for objective knowledge and origins as acute as any in the West.

ECONOMIST: Claude L��vi-Strauss