Pacific Asia Museum

[Anonymous]

Wyss I loved the haiku.
At the museum I felt relaxed in the middle of a big city because I was sitting by the koi pond feeling sunbeams go through the leaves on the trees before including me in the matter and listening to the water trickle my cares away. I look forward to going there again someday soon.
I liked the Thai? carving of a man (wisdom?) and woman (compassion) in the act of love, although I'm sure the parents of my students would want to wait a few years before showing them anything like that.
I also enjoyed the inevitable comparing and contrasting that occurs when different cultures and different pieces from different countries and time periods are brought together by some commonality. I too enjoyed the Pacific Island connection that Asia has even though I have been programmed (poor word choice?) by my schooling to think of them as entirely different entities.

[Anonymous]

The Pacific Asia Museum has a fantastic website! I live and teach in Northern California, so I could never take my students to this museum. But after looking at their website, I realized that it is almost as good of a resource as the real thing! Check out the explore the collections linkfor great images and photos. You could send students to the site or use it to collect images for powerpoints.

[Anonymous]

Although small, the museum has alot to offer. I like the way the name suggests it is Pacific region Asian artifacts and no one group is mentioned in the name/title. In such a small space, they have conveyed 2 very strong pieces of information. First, the architecture and second, the peaceful and enjoyable courtyard. I noticed the yin/yang painted on the bottom of a bowl in the display and wondered how many others noticed it while we were there. I really like the teaching idea to have students look for it in everyday observations. As an added bonus, I found if you trail close behind Prof. Dube you can pick up additional information as you walk through. I am fortunate to live a reasonable driving distance to go back hopefully see the museum grow. It is also a reasonable distance for a school fieldtrip. Yes!!

[Anonymous]

Thank you (Clay and Miranda) for making arrangements for this special field trip.

I visited this museum with my family many years ago, and we all liked the museum including all the displays and the garden area. Today's trip was refreshing and educational. I think that "Journeys the Silk Road" exhibition is an interesting program. I would like to inform my students and their parents about this.

I have subscribed the museum online newsletter for several years. They are very informative and friendly. I usually post the museum events on my class "Edline: (internet communication site for our students, teachers, parents, and administrators).

😀

[Anonymous]

I didnt see where the story of Ganesh was in the museum but since you liked the story I thought I might add that though the story makes it seem like it was just a coincidence that Shiva chose an elephant because it was the first thing that passed by but his body has great symbolic meaning. Ganesha is known also as the god who removes obstacles. He has the big ears because he is a good listener. His large stomach symbolizes the problems of others he takes into his stomach. His one tusk symbolizes many things. One story says that he broke his tusk and used it to throw at the moon when the moon insulted someone and another story says he used it to write famous Hindu chant. Ganesh sits on a mouse to show that he is so gentle and humble that he only needs a mouse to get around (unlike his brother who sits on a peacock and is cocky).

Saraswati is usually considered the goddess of Education.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing the photos!
As I was walking around the museum, I was wondering how many times I must have passed that building, and never even knew what it was. I do remember the building, but if I'd known how terrific it was, I would have visited WAY before this. Just enough of a taste to make sure I'll be back.
The dishes were absolutely beautiful. I can't believe the patterns haven't been copied by some of the contemporary dish-making companies. The celadon was mesmerizing, also.
I'm definitely going to join; I want to bring a busload of students - it's exactly the kind of outing they would enjoy; hands-on projects and viewing. I need to check the website for upcoming displays. I am really sorry I missed seeing the "Chinaman's Chance" exhibit. That would be an easy one to connect to 9th grade literature.

[Anonymous]

I enjoyed the setting and the experience of the museum as well; however, I could not help but notice that many of the pieces from the Chinese Dynasties looked as though they could be boughten in a store today... So I am wondering whether the pieces that I have seen in stores in China Town are attempting to replicate the ceramics of past dynasties or is there just such a similarity in artistry and style that my eye is not catching the differences.

Another great connection from the museum that I was able to make today was during our lecture on Korea; there was a portrait of two Korean men taking their Civil Service Exams wearing traditional Korean Hats. Abigail and I spent some time looking at the two Korean hats that the museum has on display because of their detail; one was for the upper class and the other was what was traditionally worn by the peasantry. The intricacy of the hat worn by the upper tier is just amazing!

[Anonymous]

if seems we came at just the wrong moment...too late to see the silk roads...to early to see the grafitti exhibit. there were so many rooms that were unavailable. that saddened me because it just meant something else that we were unable to see.

i nonetheless did enjoy today very much. one of my colleagues is thinking of advising an Asian American club on our campus next year. she has asked me to be co-advisor. i can't wait to tell her about this museum. hopefully this can be our first field trip for the club. there was so much beautiful and wonderful art to experience.

i really enjoyed the similarities that ran throughout the different countries. it makes me wonder, did one country influence all of the others, or are there things that all cultures naturally put together?

i enjoyed the different takes on the representation of Buddha. I didn't know that there were female versions. i wonder what the many different arms represented. i wonder why there were so many differnent styles even in just one country.

seeing the different art brought up a lot of questions for me that i can't wait to explore.

[Anonymous]

Wow!
Did any of you see that ice white statue of Bodhi Dharma (The guy who brought Buddhism to China)? I really wanted to take him home! What's a few thousand years between friends? Who was it that asked me about him? This was one totally cool dude! [I've always had a thing about bearded guys. That's why I still think the guys on the Smith Brother's Cough Drops packet are sexy ] The dude lived between 1883 and 1260 CE according to the MUMONKAN (The Gateless Gate). And, this is the story about him that I like the best, though it is hard to choose.

The story I read was from Idiots Guide and it goes, roughly:

Emperor Wu: "I've had temples and monasteries built in my realm, commissioned translations of Buddhist works. Tell me, what virtues and merits have I accumulated for myself?"

Bodhidharma: " None whatsoever."

Wu: Well then: what is the basis of holiness?"

Bod: "No holiness, only emptiness.'

Wu: [Pissed off and not understanding] "Then, who do think you are; who am I talking to right now?"

Bod: "I don't know." He walks away.

He was a no crap kinda guy. No conceptions. No living in the head. No preconceptions, especially.

Here's one of his sayings that I love:

"WHEN I WAS A YOUNG MAN AND KNEW NOTHING OF BUDDHISM, MOUNTAINS WERE MOUNTAINS AND WATERS WERE WATERS. BUT ONCE I BEGAN TO UNDERSTAND A LITTLE BUDDHISM, MOUNTAINS WERE NO LONGER MOUNTAINS AND WATERS NO LONGER WATERS." [The ancient among us will ge this one.]

That is, if you observe separate things long enough, all the seemingly separate things are in reality not separate at all.

I love the story about him getting his teeth knocked out with an angry monk's mala (meditiation beads). They were iron back then. Bodhidharma wasn't impressed with the guy's discourse and told him so.

In yet another tale I love, we're told that Bodhidharma did not want disciples and said he would only teach when the snows turned red. In desperation a monk named Hui K'o cut off his arm and threw it on the snow in front of Bodhidharma after many years of trying to get Bodhidharma to accept him as a student. Can you see this? This did get Bodhidharma's attention. "What do you want?" asked Bodhidharma. "I've got no peace of mind! How do I pacify my mind?" cried Hui k'o. [We've all been there] "Bring your mind here and I'll pacify it then," said Bodhidharma. "Yeah, but whenever I look for my mind, I can't FIND it anywhere!" said Hui K'o, in agony. "There!" said Bodhidharma, "It's pacified!" Hui K'o was instantly enlightened. Get it? That's OK. I'm told it can take one instant or fifty years to get enlightened. I fear I'm on the slow track.

I had a wonderful book from City of Ten Thousand Buddha's in Ukiah, California [and, perhaps it is no coincidence that this Zen Monastery was once an asylum for the insane:Talmage] on Bodhidharma: THE INTENTION OF PATRIARCH BODHIDHARMA'S COMING FROM THE WEST by Venerable Master Ch'an Hua. (I no longer have the book; I had it at school and a kid stole it. The illustrations are incredible. I think it was my martial arts fanatic kid who took it.) And, I had the best, best vegan vegetarian food on the planet at Chun Kang Restaurant. Web Site: http://www.cttbusa.org. They have lots of books and the monks and nuns are the sweetest people. They wanted me to stay to teach English. Wish I could have.

[Anonymous]

The field trip ia an educational experience of which I am not particularly fond of leading for a host of reasons, but remind myself that it is supposed to be for the students. The speech-"Remember whom you are representing..."-is not always effective with middle schoolers and so I am not too chagrined that budget cuts have curtailed such activities unless one does a lot of fund raising.
That said, I intend to organize a field trip to the museum for the Samurai exhibit in February since it coincides closely with when we cover Japan and it sounds as if it has many tie-ins with the interests in manga of many current and former students.
Before launching into this, I usually distinguish between the experience and the educational product that can be garnered at the two types of sites that we visited. I always see the museum visit bounded by glass and artifacts with some exceptions, while the temple is a more open experience since it exists for a different purpose entirely.
Scouting a location a week or two prior to to the field trip is, for me, a necessity. I want to know what will be exhibited on the visitation day so I can help the students prepare for their projects. From that visit I also give students a potential list of projects, however the list is exemplary not definitive. At this time I also introduce a rubric. Plenty of exemplary rubrics can be found using Google, but my favorite site is http://www.intranet.cps.k12.il.us/assessments/Ideas_and_Rubrics/ideas_and_rubrics.html . I check to see if I can appropriate something new, more concise, or of greater clarity. Reviewing and clarifying the rubric with students is a must. In this day and age, a virtual field trip is a good way to examine and explain class expectations. The end product will typically be an essay with photos or a Power Point presentation since photography is encouraged.
As I mentioned, museums are glass-case bound, but there are a number of ways to help students focus their efforts. At the Asia Pacific Museum, the physical plant, the building or the courtyard, could be the object of study. Individual cases, such as the scholars case, the comparison of royal and common artifacts, diachronic comparison of artifact types, cross-cultural comparisons of similar artifacts, animal designs, plant designs, materials, symbolism, or speculation, such as reconstructing a scholar's daily work from the case items are all potential topics to be examined.
To keep the student's focused, I like to arrange the time spent at the visit as well. I give them time to look, get them back together and discuss how the visit is going, and tell them it's crunch time. They must choose a topic if they haven't . Then it's send them out to finish data collection.
Back in the classroom, I schedule time for debriefing, discussion, clarification of the task and the rubric, and even time to start organizing material. Then it's showtime. Students get to present the work they have accomplished

[Anonymous]

Many thanks first to Clay and Miranda for making the arrangements to extend learning outside of the classroom midway through the seminar.
I had mixed feelings about the museum. Although I appreciated the scope of what was being covered historically and geographically, it was like a physical representation of trying to cover a thousand years of history in a 90 minute lecture... tough to do justice to the topic, or in this case the civilizations of East Asia and Oceania. On the other hand, the location was perfect for a short field trip with a well-behaved class. Also, the central courtyard was a fine place to relax, discuss impressions of the seminar thus far, and construct haiku with the lazy koi as inspiration.
Too bad the "cultural exploration bags" were nowhere to be found, even after an inquiry to the clerk in the gift shop. I left my cell number and have yet to be contacted on the whereabouts of the bags. Maybe next time I'm in the area...
I also saw in the brochure that a book signing of a recent haiku collection had just taken place at the site. While the gift store was out of that particular collection, I was redirected to a collection of the much lesser-known tanka style of Japanese poetry (5,7,5,7,7 pattern). Coincidentally, this collection was also signed by the author. Afternoon memories made as Connie and I shared selections on the bus ride to the temple, a wonderful finish to the first part of the day.

[Anonymous]

The museum was quaint and inviting. The koi pond at the center of the complex added/created the serenity and breath-taking atmosphere, I wanted to stay and have a picnic while I watched the koi swim about.

I was sorry to hear that we had just missed the Silk Road exhibition, as it's pamphlet really makes it inticing. However, viewing the beautiful vases, dishes, and other artifacts was really fascinating. I'm amazed that such delicate works lasted all those hundreds and hundreds of years. The artistry was awe-inspiring because a people without modern machines or color creating methods were able to create timeless piecess that surpass so much of what I've seen today. I would love to own replicas of them, but I imagine that even replicas would be highly expensive.

As I work on my goal to take students on more field trips, I will absolutely keep PAM high on my list.

[Author]

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