panel
notes: label: Description
content: Four panel fabric screen on wooden frame. The screen depicts a group of Chinses scholars eating beneath blooming peach and plum trees. The blossoms, which lead to the production of countless fruits, symbolize a teacher's ability to produce many great students. The scene is surrounded by yellow flowers with a faded red border. The four panels fold flat.
label: Description
content: New York restaurateur Paul Ma acquired this folding screen at an art show in Somers, New York, in 1980. Ma, an educator at heart, saw himself and his goals to spread knowledge of China’s rich culinary traditions in the scene of the scholars dining together. Further, the scene highlights the importance of shared meals in Chinese culture. Ma used the panel to introduce his restaurant patrons, family, and friends to some of the culinary customs and philosophical beliefs in China. The panel hung in his home and then the Shandong Inn in the late 1980s.
label: Description
content: Paul Ma was born in the Shandong Province in the Northeast part of China. His father was the chief arsenal engineer for Chiang Kai-Shek’s army, and so Ma’s childhood was marked by frequent moves throughout China, including to Szechuan, which also exposed him to the country’s vibrant and varied regional cuisines.
label: Description
content: At 12 years old, Ma’s family temporarily settled in Taiwan. In 1964, when he was 26, Paul Ma emigrated from Taiwan to the United States for a brief period. Then, Ma immigrated to Canada to earn an MA in statistics, and eventually came back to the US around 1970. Ma was part of a wave of immigrants from China who sought educational and job opportunities in North America, and specifically in the US after the landmark 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act.
label: Description
content: Initially, Ma built a career as a medical statistician, but eventually he pursued his passion for connecting with people through food and became a restaurateur and food entrepreneur in Westchester County, New York. Linda Ma, his wife and business partner whom he had met before emigrating from China, maintained the financial records of their businesses among other key duties. Linda Ma was born in the Jiangsu Province, near Shanghai.
label: Description
content: At first, the Mas opened a Chinese grocery store in Mahopac, New York, in 1975; a year later, they moved their business to Yorktown Heights, New York, and called it Ma’s Oriental Store. The Mas operated an innovative experience called “Dine and Learn” out of their store. During these educational meals, the Mas introduced customers to traditional Chinese and new American Chinese fare, history, and culture. As the popularity of the Dine and Learn classes grew, customers requested that the Mas open a restaurant.
label: Description
content: In 1981, Paul Ma also expanded his business ventures and began leading culinary tours in China, and guided Americans to learn about and experience regional Chinese cuisine.
label: Description
content: As the popularity of the Dine and Learn classes grew, customers requested that the Mas open a restaurant. Responding to customer requests, they soon opened a café in Ma’s Oriental Store and in 1984 expanded that into a full-service restaurant, Paul Ma’s China Kitchen.
label: Description
content: In addition to Paul Ma’s China Kitchen, the Mas established other restaurants, including Shandong Inn and Shanghai Palace, also in Westchester County, New York. The Mas retired from the restaurant industry in 1994. Paul Ma took up community volunteering until 2005 and Linda Ma continued to work as a nurse part time until 2010.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Food Technology
label: Exhibition
content: Food: Transforming the American Table
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Paul and Linda Ma
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2018.0052.08
label: catalog number
content: 2018.0052.08
label: accession number
content: 2018.0052
objectType: label: Object Name
content: panel
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: fabric (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 34 1/2 in x 58 in x 1/2 in; 87.63 cm x 147.32 cm x 1.27 cm
label: Measurements
content: individual panel: 34 1/2 in x 14 1/2 in; 87.63 cm x 36.83 cm