Every revolution needs a name. The pro-democracy demonstrations that have roiled Hong Kong for three months now will be known as the "water revolution".

Since massive protests erupted in June, demonstrators have adhered to what they call a "be water" strategy. This pays tribute to Hong Kong's most famous son and has utterly confounded the police, the government and the politburo in Beijing. "Be formless, shapeless, like water," said Bruce Lee, the gongfu movie star and most influential martial artist in history, in a rare TV interview in 1971. "Water can flow or it can crash - be water, my friend."