ASIAN PACIFIC HERITAGE MONTH MAY 2013

Executive Director Message

Celebrating the Opening of the Him Mark Lai Learning Center

Saturday, June 22 2013 2 PM
On behalf of everyone at the Chinese Culture Foundation, I would like to invite you to the inaugural event of the Him Mark Lai Learning Center on June 22. We are proud to celebrate API Heritage Month by honoring the life and work of Him Mark Lai, the historian who pioneered the study of Chinese American history. Him Mark was a member of the board of directors of the Chinese Culture Foundation and served as board president in 1982. We would like to thank Mrs. Laura Lai, Dr. and Mrs. Rolland and Kathryn Lowe for generously contributing the seed funds to endow the Him Mark Lai Learning Center. Their vision and commitment is the driving force behind this initiative. Him Mark Lai was an inspiring, incredible historian whose insight transformed the cultural landscape and created meaningful relationships on both sides of the Pacific. It is our hope that the Him Mark Lai Learning Center will continue this powerful legacy by making Chinese American history accessible and relevant to the young generations. The Chinese Culture Foundation cares deeply about connecting people, building strong communities and inspiring youth through cross 6 2 2 cultural experiences.

We envision the Him Mark Lai Learning Center as the

hub of our education activities, including the rebranded walking tour, From Dynasty to Democracy, In Search of Roots workshops and seminars, In Search of Roots California program and In Search of Roots China program.

622 Your presence and encouragement will give meaning to our vision. I hope to personally welcome you to the
opening ceremony on Saturday, June 22. Sincerely,
Mabel S. Teng

Introducing the 2013 CCF Board of Directors Leadership

Secretary

Treasurer

Susan C. Tom
My lifelong passion has been to teach children about the rich culture and traditions of our Chinese ancestry. I am proud to be a Director of an organization that promotes our culture and the arts in a very forward movement. The Center is always on the move and we, as board members, feel empowered to help and move with this vibrant energy.

Esther Li

It is an exciting time to be part of the Chinese Culture Foundation. Since its inception, the Foundation has grown and evolved. With the upcoming opening of the Him Mark Lai Learning Center, a new chapter for the Chinese Culture Foundation begins. The Chinese Culture Center will be the place where people of all ages, young and old, come together to learn, view, communicate and experience culture, art and history.

Him Mark Lai, an Archivist, Historian, and Teacher

Ling-chi Wang, Professor Emeritus, Ethnic and Asian American Studies, UC Berkeley

No one person has done more to rescue Chinese American history from oblivion and give voice to Chinese America than Him Mark Lai, a person I had known and worked with for forty years.
or people who are not familiar with his work, what I declared above may sound like an exaggeration. Surely, there must have been history books written about the Chinese in the U.S. before and after he appeared on the scene in San Franciscos Chinatown in the late 1960s with his short notes and articles, here and there, about various aspects of Chinese American life, past and present. There were, in fact, plenty of it, written in both English and Chinese, dating back to the late 19th century. A few were even considered monumental and definitive, such as, Chinese Immigration (1909) by Mary R. Coolidge and Bitter Strength (1964) by Gunther Barth in English and 100 years of Chinese in the U.S. and Canada (1954) by Wu Xiangying () and The History of Chinese in the U.S., Volumes I and II (1976) by Liu Boji () in Chinese. What emerged from these and many other books, however, are mere aspects of Chinese American history at best and incomplete, if not distorted history, at worst. Why? Because Chinese depicted in these books are essentially nameless, faceless, and voiceless. They described what the dominant society did to exclude and discriminate against the Chinese, but they had nothing to say about who the Chinese were, how they felt about their treatment, and what they did, individually and collectively, to resist, survive, build in and contribute to America with their muscle in the 19th century and their brain in the 20th century. Such erasure amounts to adding insult to injury or what African American historian, Carter Godwin Woodson, called intellectual lynching in his classic, The Mis-Education of the Negro (1933). We most certainly do not treat the European immigrants who invaded, conquered, settled, and built America in such manner in our textbooks. In fact, we do the exact opposite: we docu-

ment, celebrate, and glorify their courage, hardwork, intelligence, and accomplishment, as represented by The Uprooted: The Epic Story of the Great Migrations that made the American People (1951) by Oscar Handlin.

Lo Mark * (Him Mark) was the one who devoted his life to give voice to Chinese Americans coast to coast, passionately and steadfastly searching for and collecting buried primary source materials, in Chinese and English alike, from individuals and organizations for Chinese American history. Using his own time and money and with the help of his life-time partner in crime, Laura, the two literally criss-crossed the U.S. to dig up and collect materials for Chinese American history. It was their passion and mission in life. Their single-minded dedication or more accurately, obsession, effectively prevented Chinese Americans from being forever erased from American history. What they collected, in particular, includes Chinese-language newspapers and magazines from across the U.S., organizational records, personal papers, letters, photos, memoirs, biographies, and books. In short, they gave us the voice and diary of Chinese America, the stuff historians must have to write history. This collection or gold mine, I am proud to say, is now housed in the Ethnic Studies Library at UC Berkeley, thanks for their foresight and generosity. It will be there in perpetuity.
Lo Mark did more than that. Through his miscellaneous writings, including books and periodicals, he showed us, in spite of adversity and exclusion, a lively people and a vibrant community with diversity, dignity, and determination to make their contributions and take their place in America, like all immigrants from throughout the world throughout our history. It is this history that gave Chinese Americans both identity and purpose in the U.S. Finally, Lo Mark was always generous and tireless in sharing his knowledge and helping anyone interested in learning more about Chinese American history. In this sense, he was also teacher as well. Through his collection, he will always be a teacher for generations of Chinese American historians to come.

Through the Him Mark Lai Learning Center at the Chinese Culture Foundation, the legacy of Mark Lai lives on.

* A familial/ term of endearment 2 4

Prof. L. Ling-chi Wang is both a scholar and political activist. He was the lead founder of Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), a community-based civil rights organization, and served on the board of the Chinese Culture Foundation during its the formative years in the later 1960s and early 1970s. He also helped lead the fight to build the Chinatown campus of City College of San Francisco.

A candid conversation with Dr. Rolland Lowe and Mrs. Laura Lai; Founders of the Him Mark Lai Learning Center
What is your vision in creating the Him Mark Lai Learning Center? What would you like to say to the young people today ? Rolland Lowe: My vision is that the future generation of Chinese Americans will have an understanding of Chinese American history, and how we have contributed to the building of California, and indeed, the U.S. I want them to be proud of their ethnic and cultural heritage, and to encourage them to be role models to the future generations of Chinese Americans. In the past we see ourselves as ABC, American Born Chinese. Some of us see our future in China while others see our future in the U.S. That is inevitable and a false choice when Chinese Americans had neither history nor identity. This changed as a result of Him Mark Lais work. Him Mark did very careful and scholarly study, and documented the history and contributions of the Chinese people in America. He gave us identity with our own history and contributions.

Laura Lai: Him Mark is dedicated to Chinese American history and wanted more people to learn the history. We travelled across the U.S. and throughout China to gather sources for his writing. He started and led the Roots Program at the Chinese Culture Center to encourage young people to find out more about their history and identity. I am proud to be his partner and help throughout his effort to restore Chinese American history.
I supported Him Mark 100% in everything he did, and I hope through the Him Mark Lai Learning Center, his work will continue through the Chinese Culture Center.
Photo taken at Him Marks 82nd birthday in San Francisco

Left to Right, Standing: Kathryn and Rolland Lowe Seated: Him Mark and Laura Lai

Brief Biography of Him Mark Lai

Him Mark Lai was born in San Francisco in 1925. His parents were both garment laborers who worked hard to make ends meet and raise five children; however, they managed to give Him Mark an opportunity to have an education. In the 1930s Him Mark learned Chinese at Nom Kue School at the same time that he was attending San Francisco public schools. He received a bachelors degree in engineering at the University Of California, Berkeley in 1947 and worked as a mechanical engineer at Bechtel Corporation for thirty-one years until he took early retirement in 1984. Throughout his career as an engineer Him Mark had a deep and abiding interest in history. He joined the Chinese Historical Society of America in 1965 where he served as president in 1971, 1976 and 1977. In 1967 Him Mark began writing articles on Chinese American history for EASTWEST, the Chinese American weekly. In 1969 San Francisco State College invited Philip Choy and Him Mark to teach the first college level course in America on Chinese American history. He later taught at San Francisco State from 1972 through 1975 and the University of California, Berkeley in 1978-1979 and 1984. Him Mark was also active in community cultural activities. From 1971 to 1984 he produced a weekly hour-long community-based Cantonese language radio program. In 1975 he became a member of the board of directors of the Chinese Culture Foundation and served as its president in Chinese Culture Foundation and served as its president in 1982. In 1980 he supervised the design of the Foundations exhibit Chinese of America, 1785-1980 and later was consultant for the exhibition in Shanghai (1985), Beijing (1986) and Hong Kong (1988). In 1972, Him Mark wrote his first scholarly essay, A Historical Survey of Organizations of the Left Among the Chinese in America. In 1974, He became member of a California legislature advisory committee to make recommendations on the preservation of the Angel Island Immigration Station detention barracks. At different times Him Mark also wrote historical essays for scholarly and popular publications including articles in reference works such as Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups (1980), Asian American Encyclopedia (1995), The Encyclopedia of Chinese Overseas (Singapore 1998), Huaqiao Huaren Baikequanshu (The Encyclopedia of Chinese Overseas) (Beijing, 12 volumes-1999-2002). One of his major works, published in 1992 in Hong Kong, is From Overseas Chinese to Chinese American, a general history of the Chinese in America written in Chinese. In 2004 he published a collection of essays Becoming Chinese American: A History of Communities and Institutions, and in 2006 Judy Yung, Gordon Chang and he published Chinese American Voices From the Gold Rush to the Present.

5 3

CCF CURATOR AT ASIA WEEK

What people are saying about the Chinese Culture Foundations Visual Arts Visual Arts: Bringing Global to Local
Words by Chinese Art Historian

Michael Sullivan

CCF Curator and Artistic Director Abby Chen went to New York for Asia Week. Meeting with artists, collectors, and scholars, Abby participated in numerous events, including a sold out conversation hosted by China Institute and Asian Art Archive in New York with Lam Tungpang, who will come to CCF in June to debut his Curiosity Box. CCFs 2011 Xian Rui artist Zheng Chongbin also had two show openings during Asia Week. (March 15 - 22)

At a reception honoring Michael Sullivan, Mabel Teng remarked that we stood on the shoulders of his pioneering work, while Sullivan commented. . .

"When you stand on the shoulders of others, you see farther. I am tremendously impressed at the direction of the Foundation and the work being exhibited."

:
Frank Jang

Picks from gallery.c-c-c.org

In the latest issue of Yishu (2013/3-4):

Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art WOMEN is featured!
...Abby Chen suggest(s) that there is an extraordinary amount of visual material being produced ... that is providing fresh perspectives on gender and sexuality, but (Abby Chen) does so in a way in which identity categories elude fixity - without sacrificing embodied politics.
- Alpesh Kantilal Patel

Vanessa Li

Have you checked out our online gallery at gallery.c-c-c.org lately?

Now with 327 artists, more than 4000 images, over 6000 visits a month, and continues to grow! We are seeing some wonderful works from artists all over the world. Our curatorial team recommends local San Francisco artist Summer Lee, Leland Wong, Joanna Kao, and Vanessa Li from Hong Kong.

Other great quotes in Yishu:

the most provocative art interrogating identity is happening outside of the supposedly official contemporary art world in China...
- Alpesh

3274000 6000 gallery.c-c-c.org

.... Yishu201334

is an experiment originated in Lam Tung-pangs apartment during his recent artist residency in the US. The project reflects the artists attempt to turn his living space into a creative lab for documenting and sharing his internal psyche with the public. It will debut at CCF in June, and Lam will donate an art piece inspired from his trip to San Francisco. As one of the most important rising stars from the Pacific region, Lams work demonstrates how an individual navigates and negotiates in a constantly changing environment. The captivating illustrations veil the critical distance the artist creates between realities. Without compromising sensitivity and imagination, Lam injects a fresh energy to ignite the cultural conversation for our city and Hong Kong. His unique perspective of surroundings in transformation is what we most look forward to this summer. - Abby Chen
Title Sponsor:
This project is made possible by support from Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco, Asian Cultural Council, Chinese Culture Foundation of San Francisco, The Arts Development Fund of the Home Affairs Bureau, Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The Curiosity Box

Words from the Artist

There are always very few curators or institutions would like to spend so much time to read an artist that's less known in their country. It's risky, it's an adventure, and this is what brings us together. I come to visit America with the support of Asian Cultural Council, where I proposed to visit museum collections. But then all of a sudden, the city, the loneliness and isolation from my hometown give me another spark in my creation. I am curious about the situation, the situation of my life and around. Nothing is better than half day adventure in the city and half day leaving marks in the apartment. That's where The Curiosity Box comes from. See you in San Francisco at the Chinese Culture Foundation. - Lam Tung-Pang, April 2013

(The Curiosity Box).

Meet the Artist Lam Tung-Pang

6. 22. 2013 I 3 PM Chinese Culture Center Gallery: 750 Kearny St, 3F : 750

Gallery Hours Tuesday - Saturday - Hours 10 AM - 4 PM 7 5 Free to the Public

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT WITH ART & CULTURE

Traditional Chinese Medicine
at the Center

Chamber Music at the Center:

by Bridge Chamber Virtuosi

4/6/2013
Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic is the 3rd annual partnership between CCF and United California Practitioners of Chinese Medicine and California Certified Acupuncturists Association. Thanks to the 18 licensed practitioners and acupuncturists, over three hundred seniors and immigrants were able to see the doctors for free.

4/26/2013
Members of the San Francisco symphony gave a free concert to San Francisco Chinatown. This was an exciting first collaboration, and we hope to provide more high quality entertainment for the community. Musicians (L to R) Wei He, Alicia and Amos Yang, Jay Liu performed music by Chinese and Western Composers.

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Chinatown Youth Exploring Art, a transformative experience

The Chinese Progressive Association with the Chinese Culture Foundation partnered to provide art in the community through artist workshops for youth and other members.
Art isn't just something to stare at from three feet away; art communicates. We learned from Leon that art can shout and scream resistance and bring people together in solidarity through images they can relate to emotionally.
- Anna L, Youth MOJO member

Screenprinting is metaphoric for social justice movements: small, seemingly simple gestures, actions, here and there, all not quite obviously connected, and suddenly a screen printed shirt, suddenly a goal achieved, a right is won, a cause is championed.

- Justin L, Youth MOJO member

Chinese Progressive Association Youth Mojo learns to print T-shirts with Artist Leon Sun

Congratulations to Jenny Leung !

Program & Exhibition Manager
Congratulations to Jenny Leung on her promotion to Program & Exhibition Manager! Jenny joined the Foundation in 2010, shortly after she graduated with Masters degree in Asian Studies from UC Berkeley. Jennys hard work and dedication-- from the innovative approach in the gallery shop, high impact partnership building, and her committed mentoring of countless volunteers-- is instrumental to the Foundations success. We are so proud of you Jenny!

2010

Leadership & Legacy

The Mission of the Chinese Culture Foundation is to influence culture through art and education. We view ourselves as a platform for selfexpression and innovation, promoting insight and inspiration through cross-cultural experiences. We would like to thank our donors and membership community for making this possible!

Board of Directors 2013

Co- Chairs Helen Hui, Esq. Minna Tao President Gin Y. Ho Executive Vice President Sherman Tang Vice Presidents Thomas Klitgaard, Esq. Dennis Lee, Esq. Jonas B. Miller Shannon Yip Secretary Susan C. Tom Treasurer Esther Li Board of Directors Ben Choi Alan Liu Ryan Lee Maggie Mui Ivy Shen Cecilia Sze Garry Wong Executive Director Mabel S. Teng Art Advisory Committee Terese Tse Bartholomew Tatwina Chinn Lee Manni Liu Gang Situ Pat Tseng

C-cubed
Friends of the Chinese Culture Foundation, is dedicated to the legacy and vision of the organization. The following individuals have donated $1,000 or more each year.

Many members of C-cubed and artists with Michael Sullivan

Dr. Richard & Tatwina Lee Peter & Mei Lam Laura Lai Dr. Rolland & Kathryn Lowe Thomas Klitgaard Ronald & Lillian Wu Julie Chu Gin Y. Ho Helen Hui Laura Lai Benny & Tzu-Chen Lee Dennis & Anna Lee Emory M. Lee Dr. Robert Lee Russel & Sherlyn Leong Tom & Bobbie McChristy

Jonas Miller Maggie Mui Doreteo Ng Carol P. Peckham Dr. & Mrs. Collin P. Quock Daniel & Irene Yee Riley Peter Stanek Cecilia Sze Sherman & Philomena Tang Deanna Tom Pat Tseng Dr. Colin C. Wong Pausang Wong Rolland & Lillian Wu Supervisor Norman Yee

We welcome our new members and renewed members in the First Quarter of 2013!
Nancy Brennan Charles Chan Gary Chew Donald H. Cheu Francis & Lillian Chin Virstan & Marina Choy George & Celine Chu Kevin Davis Henry & Priscilla Der West Ho Diana Hong Kejian Huang Alvin Ja David & Gail Jacoby Arthur E. Johnson Diane Jung Kitty Kao Sam Kong Susan Kubin Xiao Nong Lan Mollie Leong Benny & Tzu-Chen Lee Emory Lee Ryan Lee

2013 !
William & Karen Lee David Lei Russell E. & Sherlyn Leong Horton & Shirley Louie Russell Lowe Jerry Mar Linda Mar Warren Mar Jonas Miller & Christina Hui Doroteo Ng Roberto C Pingul Collin & Betty Quock Dianne Saito Ivy Shen Betty Shi Earl Speas Lin Su Cecilia Sze Edward & Elizabeth Tom Benjamin Tong Hing Wai Tong Xiaoyan Wan Francis K & Theresa J Wong Edmond Yee Henry & Hanna Yuen

Give Directly to Support Art and Culture!

Great News! The Chinese Culture Foundation is now a member of Local Independent Charities of America! That means there will not be a 3% credit card company fee charged to the CCF. Your entire contribution on-line or using credit card will go to supporting art and education. For additional donation information contact Gharrity at gharrity@c-cc.org or call (415) 986-1822, x31.

Join and Become a Member!

Members are an integral part of our organization and are cultural ambassadors. Sign up to be a member online, or in person at our gallery. Forms can also be mailed in, faxed, or emailed. For more information, contact Jenny Leung, jenny@c-c-c.org, 415-986-1822 ext. 23. ! 415-986-1822 32

Year donation by transfering stocks are also appreciated!

CHINESE CULTURE FOUNDATION OF SAN FRANCISCO

750 KEARNY STREET, 3F SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108

NON-PROFIT ORG. US POSTAGE PAID SAN FRANCISCO CA PERMIT NO. 1899

@cccsanfrancisco

Did you see Taichi Zero? -

Get more energy with our taichi classes! Taichi promotes strength, relieves stress, nurtures the inner world, and helps reach the balance between good for the mind & body.

Tuesday & Thursday

6PM - 7PM

All levels welcome!

Contact instructor Debbie Au, at tradchentaiji@yahoo.com

or call Colin, (415) 986-1822 x 32

The Chinese Culture Center would like to thank all its partners and supporters ! !

Hop Wo Benevolent Association

Hall, Yee & Associates

Portsmouth Plaza Parking Corporation Portsmouth Square Garage

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Tom Do Hing Foundation