FIRST SATURDAY PDX
  • Upcoming Presentation, 1 April, 2023
  • Welcome to First Saturday PDX
  • CURRENT SEASON 2022 - 2023
    • Quick Preview of Season 2022 - 2023
    • Season Schedule (2022 - 2023)
    • A Visit to the Soreng Gallery of Chinese Art ​at the ​Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art​, 10 September, 2022
    • ​China’s Last Imperial Frontier: Late Qing Expansion in Sichuan’s Tibetan Borderlands 15 October, 2022
    • Girls with Big Ideas: Gidget and Song of Youth 5 November, 2022
    • * DIM SUM/ YUM CHA BRUNCH!! 19 November, 2022 *
    • Following the Thread: China Along the Road of Silk 3 December, 2022
    • The Chinese Massacre in Hells Canyon 7 January 2023
    • Year of the Rabbit 4721
    • Spring Fundraiser Banquet Lunch/ Auction 18 FEB, 2023
    • "Model Letters" and the Audiences of Calligraphy in Early Modern China , 4 March, 2023
    • Women in the History of Tea in in China, 1 April, 2023
  • THE FIRST 20 YEARS
  • PAST SEASONS & PROGRAMS
    • Past Seasons & Program Highlights >
      • Season 2021 - 2022 >
        • Quick Preview of Season 2021 - 2022
        • Season Schedule 2021 - 2022
        • The Oregon Chinese Diaspora Project, 2 October 2021
        • Connecting to our Natural World: The Portland Botanical Gardens, 6 November 2021
        • Lan Su Chinese Garden: ​The Vision of a Classical Chinese Garden, 4 December 2021
        • ​Re-visioning ​Chinese History, ​900-1350: ​The New Look of Song and Yuan, 8 January, 2022
        • Chinese New Year 2022/ Year of the Tiger 4720, 5 February, 2022
        • Auspicious Seals and Chops, 5 February 2022
        • The Erhu and Erhu Music, 5 March, 2022
        • Pictorial Naturalism and "Truth": Contextualizing the Eleventh-century Luohan Sculptures of Lingyan Temple in China, 2 April, 2022
        • Celebrated Stories in Sichuan Shadow Theater,7 May, 2022
        • The Daode Jing's Forgotten Forebear: The Ancestral Cult 4 June, 2022
      • 2020 - 2021 Season >
        • Quick Preview of Season 2020 - 2021
        • Season Schedule 2020 - 2021
        • Collecting Under Socialism: Philately in 1950s China, 12 September, 2020
        • Myriad Treasures: Celebrating the Reinstallation of the Soreng Gallery of Chinese Art Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, 3 October, 2020
        • The Real Mulan? Tales of a Female Rebel in 18th century China 7 November, 2020
        • Spice it Up! ​How the Chile Pepper Flavored Chinese Culture 5 December, 2020
        • A Century of Collecting Chinese Painting at Oberlin College 9 January, 2021 ​
        • Chinese New Year 2021/ Year of the Ox 4719
        • Artistic Exchange Between China and Europe in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 6 March, 2021
        • The Scholar’s Retreat: Loss and Resilience in the Chinese Landscape and Garden 3 April 2021
        • Simmering, Whisking, Steeping: Methods for Preparing and Consuming Tea in Premodern China
        • Silk and Sericulture: Beauty Inspired by a Social Contract
      • 2019 - 2020 Season >
        • Quick Preview of Season 2019 - 2020
        • Season Schedule 2019 - 2020
        • Mawangdui: The Tomb of China’s Sleeping Beauty, 7 December 2019
        • Field Notes from Sichuan: Learning To Be a Foreigner, 5 October 2019
        • In Search of Korean Liberation in China, 2 November 2019
        • From an Architect's Perspective: 3, 5, 7, 9 Column Halls: Status and Hierarchy in a Confucius Society, 7 December 2019
        • China Under the Covers - ​A Bookbinder’s Journey to the Roots of Books 11 January, 2020
        • Lunar New Year Lunch, 1 February, 2020
        • Early Phonetic Rendering Schemes for Chinese Characters, 7 March 2020
        • The Garden of Elk Rock at Bishop's Close, 4 April 2020
      • 2018 - 2019 Season >
        • Quick Preview of Season 2018 - 2019
        • Season Schedule 2018 - 2019
        • Notable Women of Portland, 8 September 2018
        • Mooncakes: A Hallmark of Tradition of the Mid-Autumn Festival, 6 October 2018
        • Music: A Universal Language for Healing and Touching the Soul, 3 November 2018
        • China: In the Pursuit of Happiness, 1 December 2019
        • Babur's Gardens: An Illustrated Introduction, 5 January 2019
        • Chinese New Year Lunch 2 February, 2019
        • Living with Penjing: Three Dimensional Poetry, 2 March 2019
        • Discovering the Intellectual and Sensory Essences of Chinese Literati Gardens, 6 April 2019
        • Sino-Japanese Cultural Connections in the Yuan Dynasty, 4 May 2019 ​​
      • 2017 - 2018 Season >
        • Quick Preview of Season 2017 - 2018
        • Season Schedule 2017 - 2018
        • Developing Patronage: Chinese and Asian Pacific Heritage, 9 September 2017
        • Every Plant Has a Story to Tell: Bamboo, 7 October 2017
        • Wonders to Enjoy: Chinese Snuff Bottles, 4 November 2017
        • Sichuan Shadow Theater: Messages from Hell Courts, 2 December 2017
        • Legacy of the Qing Manchu Culture: The Sibe of Northwest China, 6 January 2018
        • Chinese New Year Brunch, 3 February 2018
        • Classical Tradition: Ancient Musical Instruments of China, 3 March 2018
        • Welcome to First Saturday PDX
        • Ancient Traders of the Silk Road: The Uyghur People of Xinjiang, 7 April 2018
        • "Poetic Exposition on Heaven and Earth": A Third-Century Chinese Verse on How the Cosmos Began, 28 April 2018
        • Word Play: The Art of Xu Bing, 2 June 2018
      • 2016 - 2017 Season >
        • Quick Preview of Season 2016 - 2017
        • Season Schedule 2016 - 2017
        • Contemporary Chinese Society: A View from the Films of Zhang Yimou, 6 May 2017
        • Chinese New Year Brunch, 4 February 2017
        • The Uyghurs: History of a People at the Center of Asia, Part 1, 4 March 2017
        • Creating a Tea Aesthetic ​in Tang Verse, 3 June 2017
      • 2015 - 2016 Season >
        • Season Schedule 2015 - 2016
        • Guzheng and Erhu: A Dialog Between the Strings, 2 April 2016
      • 2014 - 2015 Season >
        • Season Schedule 2014 - 2015
      • 2013 - 2014 Season
      • 2012 - 2013 Season
      • 2011 - 2012 Season
      • 2010 - 2011 Season
      • 2009 - 2010 Season
      • 2008 - 2009 Season
      • 2007 - 2008 Season
      • 2006 - 2007 Season
      • 2005 - 2006 Season
  • Videos
  • Partners
  • Join our Email List/ Contact Us
  • Zoom!
  • Stop Asian Hate Resources
Picture

2022 - 2023 Schedule        




Welcome to the First Saturday PDX 2022 - 2023 season!  This collection of  programs will be a hybrid group, with in  person programs and online presentations.   Onsite programs  are walk in but registration is required for each event; available on the Upcoming Presentation page. 

This season we have 
China-related subjects involving a trip to the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art in Eugene, a demonstration on the traditional tea ceremony, exploring the Central Asian Textiles of the Silk Road, the Role of Women in the the History of Tea in China, the Late Qing Expansion in Sichuan's Tibetan Borderlands, a look at modern Chinese Calligraphy and the story of the Massacre at Hell's Canyon, followed by a half hour of further discussion and socializing 
in our virtual First Saturday PDX Tea House for the online programs, or lunch family style at a Chinese restaurant for in person programs.  This season begins on 10 September, 2022 running through 3 June, 2023.

Picture
 A Visit to the Soreng Gallery of Chinese Art ​at the ​Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art​
Anne Rose Kitagawa and Ina Asim
10 September, 2022  

Renowned for its large and important assemblage of Chinese art, the JSMA’s holdings include one of America's most impressive collections of court textiles, along with superlative examples of traditional Chinese painting, sculpture, ceramics, jade, glass, lacquer, metalwork, furniture, and a small, but growing selection of contemporary Chinese objects. We will have a guided tour of the Soreng Gallery and have access to the adjacent galleries of Japanese and Korean Art.
Further information and images here

Picture
China’s Last Imperial Frontier:
Late Qing Expansion in Sichuan’s Tibetan Borderlands 

Xiuyu Wang, PhD
15 October, 2022  ​ 

Dr Xiuyu Wang  speaks to us on Qing China’s attempt to integrate eastern Tibet at the turn of the nineteenth century.  Dr Wang draws on archival and ethnographic research to analyze the interactions between local authorities in Eastern Tibet and Qing imperial officials during the region's incorporation in the 19th and 20th centuries. 
​


Picture
Further information here  
Video here
First Saturday PDX Informal Catch up Lunch
FSPDX Planning Committee
5 November, 2022    
​



Picture
Following the Thread:  China Along the Silk Road 
Mariachiara Gasparini, PhD
3 December, 2022         

As a non-verbal form of communication, textile material and wall painting representations provide a different perspective on the intercultural and artistic interaction along the so-called Silk Road between China and the “outside” world. Dr. Gasparini will discuss the development of silk production and its use in China and the acquisition of foreign cotton and wool and their interplay over the centuries beyond their religious Buddhist consumption.

                                                                                              


Picture
Further information here
Video here
Auspicious ​Seals and Chops
Dan Lucas
5 February, 2022​

Seals have a long history in China, dating back to the 5th century BC, used as signatures on dynastic court documents, personal documents, contracts, and other official papers. They graced works of calligraphy and paintings while collectors of books and art often added their seals to works.  The history of the Chinese seal script, including the various uses of seals and the materials, tools and design of the seals is covered, as well as how seals are being used in modern times, such as those found in Lan Su Chinese Garden - with a nod to the Xiling Seal Society in Hangzhou, China.


Picture
Welcoming the Year of the Tiger 老虎, 4720 
​First Saturday PDX Tea House

First Saturday PDX Planning Committee
5 February, 2022
     
​We invite you to join First Saturday PDX in our virtual tea house to welcome in the Lunar New Year 4720 with friends and share stories of Chinese New Year Customs and Food!.      
Further information here


Picture
The Erhu and Erhu Music 
Jerry Lin, PhD
5 March, 2022
​                    
The Erhu is a two stringed bowed musical instrument, with a distinctly expressive and melodic sound.  First appearing in China in the Tang Dynasty, it can be traced back to proto-Mongolic instruments. We listen to the lyrical music of the erhu, and hear about its history and place in musical tradition and the Chinese Orchestra.  ​
Further information here
Video here

Pictorial Naturalism and "Truth":
Contextualizing the Eleventh-century Luohan Sculptures of Lingyan Temple in China 
Rebecca Bieberly, PhD
Art History, 
Portland State University   
2 April, 2022
​
In mid-eleventh century China, an educated and arts-savvy public began to question the “truth” of pictorial naturalism. During those very same years, Lingyan Temple 靈巖寺 in Shandong province installed a sculptural set of nearly life-size and highly naturalistic sculptures of Buddhist monastic figures within its Qianfo Hall. Bringing together arts writings and monastic literature of the period, this talk reconsiders the roles of religious imagery within the arts discourse of premodern China. 
Further information here
Video here
Picture

Picture
Celebrated Stories in Sichuan Shadow Theater
Mary Hirsch
7 May, 2022

Learn how tales of injustice, retribution, and reunion resonated widely in traditional China from over 1000 years ago have been adapted into our modern age. Through exploring convoluted plots and characterization we will consider what made these dramas so compelling in the repertoire of Sichuan shadow theater. 
Further information here

Video here

The Daode Jing’s Forgotten Forebear: The Ancestral Cult
Ken Brashier, PhD
4 June, 2022
​
While there are literally thousands of translations of the Dao De Jing and multiple opinions of what the Dao is, Dr. Brashier will take us on an exploratory journey to look at the roots of the Dao and maintain that it arose from the earlier assumptions surrounding the ancestral cult of China. 
Further information here  
Video here
​
Picture

Our instructive program series has been developed with support by PSU’s Institute for Asian Studies, Northwest China Council and Lan Su Chinese Garden.  It is free and open to the public.  

Although we are currently in an online format, our regular monthly location (wheelchair friendly) is at the address below, click on it for directions : 
​
Portland State University, Academic & Student Recreation Ctr (ASRC),  Room 230
1800 SW 6th Ave, Portland OR 97201

Excellent MAX and bus transportation is right by the venue; plan your Trimet trip HERE.   There is also a nearby parking structure at SW 6th and Harrison with an entrance on 6th Avenue is also available.
View PSU Parking info:  

https://www.pdx.edu/transportation/hourly-visitor-parking​

Picture
Picture
Picture
​© 2014 - 2023  First Saturday PDX
  • Upcoming Presentation, 1 April, 2023
  • Welcome to First Saturday PDX
  • CURRENT SEASON 2022 - 2023
    • Quick Preview of Season 2022 - 2023
    • Season Schedule (2022 - 2023)
    • A Visit to the Soreng Gallery of Chinese Art ​at the ​Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art​, 10 September, 2022
    • ​China’s Last Imperial Frontier: Late Qing Expansion in Sichuan’s Tibetan Borderlands 15 October, 2022
    • Girls with Big Ideas: Gidget and Song of Youth 5 November, 2022
    • * DIM SUM/ YUM CHA BRUNCH!! 19 November, 2022 *
    • Following the Thread: China Along the Road of Silk 3 December, 2022
    • The Chinese Massacre in Hells Canyon 7 January 2023
    • Year of the Rabbit 4721
    • Spring Fundraiser Banquet Lunch/ Auction 18 FEB, 2023
    • "Model Letters" and the Audiences of Calligraphy in Early Modern China , 4 March, 2023
    • Women in the History of Tea in in China, 1 April, 2023
  • THE FIRST 20 YEARS
  • PAST SEASONS & PROGRAMS
    • Past Seasons & Program Highlights >
      • Season 2021 - 2022 >
        • Quick Preview of Season 2021 - 2022
        • Season Schedule 2021 - 2022
        • The Oregon Chinese Diaspora Project, 2 October 2021
        • Connecting to our Natural World: The Portland Botanical Gardens, 6 November 2021
        • Lan Su Chinese Garden: ​The Vision of a Classical Chinese Garden, 4 December 2021
        • ​Re-visioning ​Chinese History, ​900-1350: ​The New Look of Song and Yuan, 8 January, 2022
        • Chinese New Year 2022/ Year of the Tiger 4720, 5 February, 2022
        • Auspicious Seals and Chops, 5 February 2022
        • The Erhu and Erhu Music, 5 March, 2022
        • Pictorial Naturalism and "Truth": Contextualizing the Eleventh-century Luohan Sculptures of Lingyan Temple in China, 2 April, 2022
        • Celebrated Stories in Sichuan Shadow Theater,7 May, 2022
        • The Daode Jing's Forgotten Forebear: The Ancestral Cult 4 June, 2022
      • 2020 - 2021 Season >
        • Quick Preview of Season 2020 - 2021
        • Season Schedule 2020 - 2021
        • Collecting Under Socialism: Philately in 1950s China, 12 September, 2020
        • Myriad Treasures: Celebrating the Reinstallation of the Soreng Gallery of Chinese Art Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, 3 October, 2020
        • The Real Mulan? Tales of a Female Rebel in 18th century China 7 November, 2020
        • Spice it Up! ​How the Chile Pepper Flavored Chinese Culture 5 December, 2020
        • A Century of Collecting Chinese Painting at Oberlin College 9 January, 2021 ​
        • Chinese New Year 2021/ Year of the Ox 4719
        • Artistic Exchange Between China and Europe in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 6 March, 2021
        • The Scholar’s Retreat: Loss and Resilience in the Chinese Landscape and Garden 3 April 2021
        • Simmering, Whisking, Steeping: Methods for Preparing and Consuming Tea in Premodern China
        • Silk and Sericulture: Beauty Inspired by a Social Contract
      • 2019 - 2020 Season >
        • Quick Preview of Season 2019 - 2020
        • Season Schedule 2019 - 2020
        • Mawangdui: The Tomb of China’s Sleeping Beauty, 7 December 2019
        • Field Notes from Sichuan: Learning To Be a Foreigner, 5 October 2019
        • In Search of Korean Liberation in China, 2 November 2019
        • From an Architect's Perspective: 3, 5, 7, 9 Column Halls: Status and Hierarchy in a Confucius Society, 7 December 2019
        • China Under the Covers - ​A Bookbinder’s Journey to the Roots of Books 11 January, 2020
        • Lunar New Year Lunch, 1 February, 2020
        • Early Phonetic Rendering Schemes for Chinese Characters, 7 March 2020
        • The Garden of Elk Rock at Bishop's Close, 4 April 2020
      • 2018 - 2019 Season >
        • Quick Preview of Season 2018 - 2019
        • Season Schedule 2018 - 2019
        • Notable Women of Portland, 8 September 2018
        • Mooncakes: A Hallmark of Tradition of the Mid-Autumn Festival, 6 October 2018
        • Music: A Universal Language for Healing and Touching the Soul, 3 November 2018
        • China: In the Pursuit of Happiness, 1 December 2019
        • Babur's Gardens: An Illustrated Introduction, 5 January 2019
        • Chinese New Year Lunch 2 February, 2019
        • Living with Penjing: Three Dimensional Poetry, 2 March 2019
        • Discovering the Intellectual and Sensory Essences of Chinese Literati Gardens, 6 April 2019
        • Sino-Japanese Cultural Connections in the Yuan Dynasty, 4 May 2019 ​​
      • 2017 - 2018 Season >
        • Quick Preview of Season 2017 - 2018
        • Season Schedule 2017 - 2018
        • Developing Patronage: Chinese and Asian Pacific Heritage, 9 September 2017
        • Every Plant Has a Story to Tell: Bamboo, 7 October 2017
        • Wonders to Enjoy: Chinese Snuff Bottles, 4 November 2017
        • Sichuan Shadow Theater: Messages from Hell Courts, 2 December 2017
        • Legacy of the Qing Manchu Culture: The Sibe of Northwest China, 6 January 2018
        • Chinese New Year Brunch, 3 February 2018
        • Classical Tradition: Ancient Musical Instruments of China, 3 March 2018
        • Welcome to First Saturday PDX
        • Ancient Traders of the Silk Road: The Uyghur People of Xinjiang, 7 April 2018
        • "Poetic Exposition on Heaven and Earth": A Third-Century Chinese Verse on How the Cosmos Began, 28 April 2018
        • Word Play: The Art of Xu Bing, 2 June 2018
      • 2016 - 2017 Season >
        • Quick Preview of Season 2016 - 2017
        • Season Schedule 2016 - 2017
        • Contemporary Chinese Society: A View from the Films of Zhang Yimou, 6 May 2017
        • Chinese New Year Brunch, 4 February 2017
        • The Uyghurs: History of a People at the Center of Asia, Part 1, 4 March 2017
        • Creating a Tea Aesthetic ​in Tang Verse, 3 June 2017
      • 2015 - 2016 Season >
        • Season Schedule 2015 - 2016
        • Guzheng and Erhu: A Dialog Between the Strings, 2 April 2016
      • 2014 - 2015 Season >
        • Season Schedule 2014 - 2015
      • 2013 - 2014 Season
      • 2012 - 2013 Season
      • 2011 - 2012 Season
      • 2010 - 2011 Season
      • 2009 - 2010 Season
      • 2008 - 2009 Season
      • 2007 - 2008 Season
      • 2006 - 2007 Season
      • 2005 - 2006 Season
  • Videos
  • Partners
  • Join our Email List/ Contact Us
  • Zoom!
  • Stop Asian Hate Resources