The Chinese American Experience & Beyond Lecture Series

 In the Ming Dynasty, Admiral Zheng He 鄭和船隊下西洋 traveled seven times from China all the way to Africa. His huge fleets loaded with silk, china, tea , lacquer and other treasures. He served as an ambassador of goodwill. This maritime Silk Road 海上絲綢之路created the early Chinese diaspora. SDCHM Board chairperson, Li-Rong Lilly Cheng, presented some of this history on May 11, 2024.  

On April 20th, 2024, documentary filmmaker Felicia Lowe shared a history of her work in documentary filmmaking (coming from a background in broadcast media).  Donald Young, of the Center for Asian American Media joined as a discussant.

 In 1860, an imperial garden of the Qing dynasty emperors was looted and burned by British and French troops during the Second Opium War. Dr. Patricia Yu’s talk addressed the bronze animal zodiac heads from the Yuanming Yuan 圓明園, tracing their lives from auction to repatriation and beyond. Doctoral candidate Yifan Li joined the discussion.

 Co-Chairperson of the SDMA Asian Art Council and featured collector of the SDCHM’s exhibition, Miniature Treasures of the Qing Dynasty & Beyond, Courtenay McGowen led this conversation on Chinese snuff bottles. In her talk, Courtenay gave a bit of historical background about this class of object, which may be produced from a wide variety of materials and incorporate a wide range of styles. Exhibition curator, Clare Chu joined the conversation as discussant.

 Speaker and performing artist, Andrea Yee, with her two daughters, Lynn, and Casey, narrated the story of their great (and great-great) grandfather, Art Lym, a Chinese American aviator born in San Francisco at the turn of the century, who would go on to play a role in forming the Air Force of the Republic of China in the 1920’s. Professor Sue Fawn Chung provided commentary.

 Professor Sue Fawn Chung recounted the life and times of Lim Lip Hong, who had arrived to San Francisco at the age of 12 from Kaiping. He worked in a wide variety of trades, from laboring with Tubbs cordage factory to laying railroad lines with the Central Pacific, Virginia & Truckee, and Carson & Colorado companies. He settled in San Francisco at Dogpatch Ranch, where he raised a family. Performing artist, director, and writer of theater from San Francisco, Andrea Yee, joined as discussant.

For part five of the Jewish People in China mini-series, Bob Stein considered different histories of Jewish communities in China, from the community in Kaifeng South of the Yellow River to the Sasoon and Kadoorie families of the 19th and 20th centuries.  Lala Corpuz joined us as discussant, and Lilly Cheng served as moderator of this presentation on 11/20/2022.

 On 10/15/2022, Dr. William H. Ma (Assistant Art History Professor at Louisiana State University) gave a presentation on his research, considering the appearance of European figures as decorative motifs in architecture and quotidian objects produced in Guangdong, China, during the 18th and 19th centuries.  He was joined by Patricia J. Yu, a doctoral candidate at UC Berkeley studying the Qing imperial garden of the Yuanmingyuan, who served as discussant.  

Professor Sandra Wawrythko joined us on 07/16/2022 to provide a presentation drawing from her research as a specialist in Buddhist and Daoist epistemology, exploring common threads between Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism.  Student of Guatama Buddha, Alex Li, participated as discussant, for a talk that was moderated by Bob Stein.

On 05/07/2022, at the start of Asian Heritage Month, San Diego local and international figure skating champion Tiffany Chin accompanied us in a lecture that was co-sponsored by the Chinese-American Heritage Foundation and the Chinese American Museum of Chicago.  Director of San Diego City Council Communications for the office of Council President Dean Elo-Rivera Chris Chan moderated this session.

 Born in Berlin, John Hans Less (1923 – 2011) fled as a 16-year-old together with his family to Shanghai in September 1940 to escape the Nazis. On 03/20/2022, Less's son, Steven led this presentation with Hannah-Lea Wasserfuhr (Ph.D. candidate at the Center for Jewish Studies in Heidelberg), exploring the visual record John kept of his experience. 

On 02/26/2022, Dr. Robin Yuan joined us to present the story of Bishop Robin Chen, illustrating the history of 20th century China and China's experience with Christianity.  Bob Stein moderated Dr. Yuan's talk; Heath Fox joined as discussant.

David Miles (SDMA) gave a talk on Chinese landscape paintings, referring to the teachings of Ming Dynasty painter, Dong Qichang (1555 - 1636 CE), who categorized them in relation to the Northern School or the Southern School.  His talk on 06/15/2021 was moderated by Dr. Bob Stein.

Robert Stein opened our 05/15/2021 program with a talk about archaeological findings from sites in San Diego's historic Chinatown, and how these objects  tell a story about their former owners.  Russell Low joined him to provide commentary. 

On March 20, 2021, we were pleased to host a presentation of a study commissioned by the Committee of 100 (C100) to the Economist Group.  "From Foundations to Frontiers" explores the enduring contributions of Chinese Americans to our national fabric, from the 19th century to the present day.  C100 Senior Program Associate (and study lead), Lloyd Feng shared a presentation of the study, which was followed by a panel discussion convening members of the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs (APAPA), including Ron Cho (President, APAPA San Diego Chapter), Dr. Howard Wang (Chairperson, APAPA San Gabriel chapter), Dr. Shu Chien (former Chairperson, SDCHM Board of Trustees), Dr. Philip Chinn (Professor Emeritus, Cal State Los Angeles), and Dr. Lilly Cheng (Chairperson, APAPA San Diego Chapter / Director, SDSU CCC / Chairperson, SDCHM Board of Directors).  

Check out https://contributingacrossamerica.economist.com/​ for more information about the study.

On March 6th, John LeeWong (marketing and advertising professional and alum of the Chung Wah school, 1959-1963) gave a detailed presentation of the history of Chinese language school in San Diego, from the early 20th century (also considering the Chinese Mission School from the late 19th century as a predecessor) to the present-day.  A classmate (and current president of the House of China), David Seid, provided commentary following John's presentation.

Allie Arnell joined us on 01/16/2021, providing a lecture on beauty of Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) porcelain. Her talk focused on how specific rulers reinvigorated the ceramic industry, and celebrated the colorful glazes of several great moments of Chinese ceramic history as well as fresh approaches to color and glaze technique.  Andy Lu complimented Allie’s presentation by showing a number of porcelain items from his personal collection.

On 12/19/2020, Ray Menegus spoke about the processes involved in making objects with lacquer, a substance that was used to color, beautify, and protect screens, furniture, sculpture, bowls, etc. It could be carved, incised and inlaid.  Mr. Menegus’ personal experience making a carved lacquer box showed us how difficult this technique is.   Following Ray's presentation, commentary was provided by Andy Lu, who showed a number items made with lacquer and inlay techniques from his extensive collection.

On Saturday, November 7th, Catherine Jones led a presentation on the significance of Jade in the Chinese tradition.  Following Cathy's lecture, commentator Andrew Lu shared a slideshow featuring pieces from his personal collection, which spans Asia and Mesoamerica.  The floor then opened to community members, who shared a range of jade items from their own personal collections.

This program unfolded as a "Virtual Walking Tour of the Asian Pacific Historic District," led by Amie Lee Garapich and Michael Yee, following an online resource prepared by Michael with use of ArcGIS Storymaps.