Reaching across the continents

Every first Saturday since September 2011, students, staff, volunteers and Portland residents have gathered to learn about East Asian culture.

After a yearlong series covering topics such as porcelain artifacts, architecture, gardening and others of symbolic significance, the First Saturday Lecture Series, titled “Windows into Beauty and Meaning,” will comes to a close this year with yet another exploration of China’s complex culture.

This Saturday, the Portland State Institute for Asian Studies and the Lan Su Chinese Garden will hold their final lecture.

Pre-modern Chinese history expert Ina Asim, associate professor at University of Oregon, will deliver a lecture called “Reaching Across the Continents: A Sampling of Plants from China which Influenced the Gardens of Europe and the Gardening World.”

Asim will share “a part of her recent study on gardens of China and how Chinese plants have become an integral part of the formal and everyday gardens outside of China,” according to press materials.

“She’s an expert in Chinese culture. That’s what her doctorate, travel and research is in; that’s her professional life.” said Peter Eddy, long-time First Saturday volunteer. “She comes at it from different aspects as well.”

Asim has spoken for the lecture series many times before, in fact.

“There are a lot of things that people just assume are British that actually came from China, and I think that will be somewhat of an eye-opener,” Eddy said. “For people who haven’t studied China, Chinese influence on other cultures is quite remarkable.”

This has been the first year that the Lan Su Chinese Garden and the IAS have collaborated in the First Saturday lecture series, which began 10 years ago. IAS Programs Administrator Katherine Morrow believes the atmosphere in this final lecture will be different.

“My sense is that there will be a larger audience, and that the Chinese garden volunteer group will use it not just for professional development, but as a social opportunity for all members,” Morrow said. “I think that many will come because it’s the last one of the series, so people will want to want to reconnect with one another.”

Both the institute and the volunteers from the garden foresee this collaboration continuing this coming fall because of the considerable success it has brought the parties, the lecturers and the community.

“I like the fact that people other than garden volunteers are coming,” Eddy said. “Just the idea that other people learn about the presentations is wonderful, and we think it was fortuitous to connect with Katherine Morrow and Portland State.”

The levels of attendance of the lectures have varied since the beginning of the year, so Morrow encourages more people to become involved.

“I think people who are interested in Chinese history, Chinese art and Chinese landscape would really enjoy these monthly lectures,” she said. “The lectures are also very informative and are very informal style of talks.”

Any given lecture might feature a professor, an antique store owner or a gardener, Morrow said.

“I think that the speakers are able to make the information very relevant to the audience, because they draw connections between the Chinese garden we have in Portland and greater connections in other areas,” she added.

Eddy has borne witness to the lecture series’ many transformations.

“If you’re not interested in how cultures influence each other, then there’s not much point in going to a lecture like this,” he reflected. “Personally, I find it fascinating. It’s a remarkable culture, and it is a huge economic engine in this global environment. Their cultural roots are much, much deeper than ours.”