The last article in the current edition of The Economist draws me time and again. I reread parts of it ever anew. A part of the Books and Arts Section, it is about Giuseppe Eskenazi, who is regarded as one of the most important dealers in oriental art in the world (“Emporium of Wonders,” November 6, 2010). Born in Istanbul to a Jewish family, he was taken to Milan by his father, who joined the family antiques business there. Educated in Britain, he moved to London, where he just put together an exhibition to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of his business there. “Each of the twelve Chinese objects he has selected is a rarity among rarities,” the article claims. “The kneeling figure of a shaman proffering a shallow dish is just ten centimeters high, yet hugely compelling.” Dating from the Han period, around the beginning of our era, it is made of gold. There are four closely related figures in existence, but they are all of bronze. The article goes on to other objects on show, but I cannot take the kneeling shaman out of my mind. Is the shallow dish he is holding out the tray associated with the kanji character for the word bon in Japanese that I have selected as the most propitious “spelling” of my family name? I may never learn, of course, but the fascination will surely remain (“Child of Chaos,” January 6, 1988; “Bon in Japanese,” October 3, 2009). That is, is this the sacrificial tray that has such positive connotations in Japanese culture? Can it be that the same character has similar connotations in classical Chinese? And is the reason for all this the miraculous survival of the first spiritual system ever? Again, I may never learn, but this unexpected link with shamanism is hugely compelling, indeed.