In Wind Water Ruiz stages a threeway dialogue between three great cultures the West China and Arabia He imagines what might occur if ShihTaos six poetic procedures for attaining the primal respiration or cosmic breath in painting were applied to one of the flagships of Western art Velazquezs Las Meninas Ruiz wants the three cultures to interact and test each other like the paper stone and scissors of the childrens game The result is an insoluble dispute a différend No reconciliation or compromise is possible between these cultural outlooks