February 8 to April 21, 2002

The center in cooperation with Mayor Willie L. Brown, the Asian Art Museum, the Chinatown Economic Development Group, the Chinese American Association of Commerce, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, and the Macau Museum of Art are pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition of Shiwan ceramics depicting the 108 Heroes of the Shui Hu Zhuan. To be held February 8 to April 21, 2002 at the Chinese Culture Center, this display has already received intense media attention and audience participation in Macau. Requiring three years of planning before its opening immediately after the return of Macau to Chinese sovereignty, this is the first time the exhibit has been abroad.

Also known as "All Men are Brothers," "The Water Margin," and the "Outlaws of the Marsh," the perennially popular Shui Hu Zhuan is attributed to mid-14th Century author Shi Nai-An. Set in the reign of Northern Song Dynasty Emperor Hui Zong (1101-1125), this beloved Chinese epic novel weaves a complex series of independent yet interrelated tales depicting 108 heroic men and women who band together in the marshes around Mount Liang to ferment an insurgence against corrupt tyrants.

A wide scope of personalities populate this web of adventure, romance, warfare, murder, and intrigue, with each tale vividly relating the individual adventures of courageous warriors, machiavellian beauties, jealous lovers, impulsive troublemakers, and tyrannical officials. Each character is unique, with his

or her own language and behavior based upon a suppose social status and experience. So popular are the 108 heroes depicted within the novel that they and their exploits have appeared as subjects in countless movies and television dramas that have delighted audiences for hundreds of years.

The sponsoring organizations held a fundraising dinner on January 18, 2002 at the New Asia Restaurant in San Francisco, Chinatown. Mayor Willie Brown, City Supervisors, and other prominent Chinatown individuals attended. Proceeds from the event were used to create a community fund for use of the Center's Auditorium..