I thought I would share a few pages from the Chinese-Hebrew Codex of the Chinese Jews which opens with a lengthy Jewish prayer and, of course, lists their names in both Chinese and Hebrew. You don't see stuff like this everyday. Hebrew Union University in Cincinnati holds several of these documents, but I recently learned the wing that holds them is undergoing a 2 year renovation. I guess I will have to see them up close in 2010.



The book that I got the pic from translates the pages thusly. Please note "R" means "Rabbi":

(LI CLAN)

147. R. Simcha, son of Li Chung-hsin.
148. Simcha, father of (Li) Piao, son of Israel.
149. Li Ch'eng-kung, son of Li Pien.
150. Li Ch'ao-wen, Li Ch'ao-hsien, Li Ch'i-t'ien, son(s) of Li Shih-ming.
151. Li Ming-kao, son of Li Chung-ch'eng.
152. Li Teng-yun, Eleazar, son(s) of Li Chi-ch'en.
153. Li Chin-chung, Li Chin-hsien, son(s) of Li Chi-t' t'ai.
154. Li Chi-t'ai, Li Chi-pang, son(s) of Israel.
155. Rabbi Reuben the scribe, son of Eleazar.
156. (margin) Hosea (is) Li Yao
157. Li Ssu-jen, son of Li Tzu-hsing
158. Li Yao, son of Moses [ghost's note - Li Yao was a captain in charge of Jewish and Muslim soldiers during the bandit attack of Kaifeng in 1642]
159. Li Ta-ch'en, Li Yi-ch'en, Li Shun-ch'en, Li Ching-lou, son(s) of Li Chiu-chou.
160. Shan-t'ou Lao-erh (The Old One of the Mountain-Top), Li Lao Kuan-erh (Li the Old Official), Li Yuan, Li Ssu, son(s) of Israel.
161. Li Tzu-hsing, son of Li Hsiang.

(CHANG CLAN)

[127.] Phinehas.
162. Chang Wen-chi, Chang Wen-hsin, son(s) of Mordecai.
163. Chang Wen-hsiang, son of Chang Chu-te.
164. Chang Shih-ming, Chang Shih-ju, Chang Shih-ch'e, son(s) of Judah.
165. Chang Shih-chun, son of Chang Ta-pen
166. Chang Fu-ming, Chang Ch'in-ming, son(s) of Chang Ta-hua.
167. Chang Hsin-ts'ai, son of Israel.
168. Chang Ch'i, son of Israel.
169. Chang Ku-shih, son of Chang Ch'i.
170. Chang Huai, son of Israel.
171. Chang Po-an, son of Chang Huaoi.
172. Chang Tai, son of Israel.
173. Chang Chin-te, Chang Hsi-chao, Chang Hsi-k'ung, Chang Hsi-li, Chang Hsi-meng, Chang Chiu-te, son(s) of Joseph.
174. Simcha, [son of Mordecai].



(CHAO CLAN)

264. sons(s) of Chao Shang-cheng.
265. R. Joseph, son of Chao Yun-pai.
266. Phinehas, son of Shemaiah.
267. Chao Shang-ho, Chao Shang-piao, son(s) of Phinehas.
268. Chao Shang-Ch'ien, Chao Shang-chiang, Chao Shang-hai, son(s) of Israel.
269. R. Abraham, son of Chao Ying-tou.
270. R. Abraham, son of Israel.
271. Chao Shih-yuan, son of Chao Yu-pin.
272. Chao Kuang-hsun, son of Israel.
273. Moses (Chao Ying-ch'eng), a "chin shih" (third degree scholar), Chao Ying-k'uei, Chao Ying-fu, son(s) of Abram.
274. Chao Te-pin, Chao Chia-pin, Chao Yu-pin, sons(s) of Israel.
275. Chao Shih-lung, son of [Chao Chia-pin].

275. Chao Chia-pin [Ghost's note - I did not mess up on the number. It is as it appears in the book]
276. Chao Shang-hsin, son of Israel.
277. Chao Yi-k'uei, son of Chao Shang-hsin.
278. Chao Ming, son of Chao Yi-k'uei.
279. Chao Kuang-yu, son of Israel.
280. Chao Shang-kung, Chao Shang-li, Chao Shih-chun, son(s) of Chao Teng.
281. Chao Ying-tou, son of Israel.
282. Chao Chin-chung, Chao Chin-hsiao, son(s) of Israel.
283. Chao Kuang-ch'ao, Chao Kuang-chen, son(s) of Israel.
284. Chao Ying-k'o, son of Chao Chin-hsiao.
285. Chao Wen-chin, Chao Wen-hsiu, son(s) of Israel.
286. Chao Liang-tso, son of Israel.
287. Chao Fu, Chao Kuei, Chao Lung, Chao Hu, Chao Ch'iang, son(s) of Chao Liang-tso.

Hmm, interesting. When does this date back to?

It dates around the Kaifeng flood of 1642. Not counting the cover, it is 106 pages and is divided two parts, one part for men, or "the Elders," and the other part for "the Women." It was written on some very thick paper and was bound in a cover of canvas.

This seems very fascinating! Where was this found? Who wrote this?

The text and pics are derived from:

White, William Charles, and Ronald J. Williams. Chinese Jews; A Compilation of Matters Relating to the Jews of Kʻai-Fêng Fu. [Toronto]: University of Toronto Press, 1966.

The Codex was procured from the Chinese-Jews by Jesuit missionaries who frequented the community during the 19th century. The Codex itself was "drawn up between the years 1660 and 1670" by the Chinese-Jews. (White, Vol. 3, p. 6)

I there an online version of the whole document, which might be accessed?

Not that I know of. My book only has scans of several of the pages. The physical document is held at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio. But, as I explained in my first post, they won't be back on display until 2010 because of renovations to the wing that holds it. There are a couple of research papers and at least one book on the subject, though. I can give you citations if you would like them.

Yes please. I have already sent a link to the thread to all my Jewish friends.

*Leslie, Donald. The Chinese-Hebrew Memorial Book of the Jewish Community of K'aifeng. Belconnen, A.C.T.: Canberra College of Advanced Education, 1984.

I should have mentioned that White's book translates the manuscript in its entirety, but it does not present the accompanying Chinese/Hebrew characters. The book also includes several research papers on the subject. I would suggest anyone interested in the Codex look up White's book so they don't have to search for each paper individually.

Just in case anyone is interested, someone is selling a copy of White's book on Amazon for $42. I paid $75 for mine (on Alibris) and I've spoken with some Sino-Judaic scholars that have paid upwards of $250.

Thanks immensely for that. I shall follow up on it as soon as possible. I am really, really grateful.

Thanks ghostexorcist. This book might be very interesting. Any pictures/photos/drawings to show us here? Any names of the Jesuit missionaries and western scholars who frequented the community to give us?

I'll have to get back to you on the scholars and Jesuits. I don't have the book with me right now, but here are some pics I scanned for Wikipedia some time ago. I will only provide the links since the pics are so big:

Here are two rubbings of the 1489 and 1512 steles. The pic itself is a composite I did for the wiki article on the Chinese Jews.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5...nscriptions.JPG

Picture of Earth Market Street in Kaifeng in 1910. The Synagogue was off to the right of the stores on the right side. The stele of 1489 mentions that the Kaifeng was at the intersection of Earth Market Street and Fire God temple lane.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4...%2C_Kaifeng.JPG

Exterior of the Synagogue

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7...g_synagogue.JPG

Interior

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3...g_synagogue.JPG

Map of 1910 Kaifeng showing the exact placement of the synagogue

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7...ng_map_1910.JPG

Mock up of Jews reading the Torah from the "Chair of Moses"

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4...g_the_torah.JPG

In addition to these, the book has pics of artifacts taken from the synagogue (such as Stone planters and Jade chimes), the Muslim mosque that was built using parts from the synagogue, the "cesspool" where the synagogue once stood, statues of Jewish traders, ink-rubbings of all the stone inscriptions, individual and group portraits of Jews, western scholars who visited the community, etc.

Hmmm, it does not look, either from the outside, nor from the inside, like a typical synagogue. It is much more Chinese than Jewish from what I can see. Interestingly, inside the layout is different. Where did the women sit? They are normally separated from the men, and sit on the first floor looking down on proceedings.

Very nice, thanks a lot!

Thanks for the links and bringing up this fascinating topic! I've given the Chinese-Hebrew Codex to my Jewish friend. He said the Hebrew script are words of good wishes.

Sadly, the Jews left very little evidence of their actual religious practices. Here are the accompanying details for each number on the interior pic. Maybe you can derive something from it :


As far as I know, the Jews sat in front of #1. They were expected to bow to the Qing emperors tablet, however, some scholars have suggested that, like the Muslims, they either bowed in the opposite direction and or didn't touch their head to the ground (unlike the Han Chinese who did make contact) or they kept a piece of paper over it with Jewish prayers on it or something like that.

You might have seen it a while back, but I commented on my theory regarding the origins of the Chinese Jews on this thread.


No problem.

Since this thread has garnered such interest, I have decided to transcribe the lengthy prayer that precedes the list of 717 names. The prayer consists of 22 pages, but I will only do the first 13 for right now. I'll post the last 9 pages a little later. I'm afraid the overall document is far too long for me to transcribe the entire thing.

I have to enlarge the print to distinguish between translations of Hebrew and Aramaic texts.


...

Here are the last 9 pages of the 22 page prayer that precedes the 717 names. I again have to enlarge the print to distinguish between translations of Hebrew and Aramaic text.

Thanks ghostexorcist! It has been an interesting read.

I have had a preliminary look at the drawing of the inside of the Synagogue alongside the notes. The view is clearly from the entrance to the Shul, since the bethel (which is a curtained niche into which the scrolls containing the Torah are placed) stands at the far end from the entrance. Starting at the entrance, these are my comments of this building versus most Shuls.

1. The ceremonial table at the entrance and the furniture on the table are all anomalous. I have never seen such a table in a Shul, nor seen a censer, candles and the like.
2 & 3. These roughly correspond to the Bema, which is a raised platform from which the Torah is read. The Bema usually has a balustrade, but there is no Chair of Moses.
4 - 6. These again seem totally out of place. Can someone explain what the Ch'ing Emperor's Tablet and Ming Emperor's Tablet actually contain? Are these perhaps tablets demonstrating some sort of Imperial support for the Shul?
7. An inscription like this can sometimes be found on the wall above the bethel, but not usually in front, and not in a triptych format.
8. This is normal.
9 & 10. These aren't entirely normal, but are not significant either, and can be simple local variations.
11. This is pretty much normal, although the colouring is a little eccentric.
12. Most walls are solid, but lattice might be sensible given the heat.
13. This is not out of place.
14. Not that peculiar.
15. I am not sure what this is about, since a Dragon Pavilion is otherwise unknown.
16. I have not seen this before, but then it could just be a local architectural variation.

To give an idea of what a Shul might normally look like, see this picture of the Amsterdam Shul.



There are a number of notable absences from the building in Kaifeng. One is the menorah, the elaborate nine branched lamp stand which normally sits towards the far end of the building. Another, as I have mentioned above, is a separate area for the women to sit in.

It occurs to me to ask in what language the services were conducted. Were they in Hebrew or in Chinese?

Thank you for the analysis. I can answer a few of your questions. (4-5) The book has a lengthy discourse on the tablets:

"The Imperial Tablet (Wan Sui P'ai) was placed in all authorized temples, and symbolized the protection and authority of the State. On occasion incesne was burnt before it, and obeisance made by the worshipers. In this case it was the tablet of the Ming Emperor, for it was the 19th year of the Emperor Yung Lo (1421). When in 1850 the Chinese delegates visited the synagogue they found two Imperial Tablets, one being of the Ming Dynasty and the other that of the Ch'ing Dynasty. No year dates were used on such tablets, simply "The present Emperor" or "the Great Ming Emperor" or "the Great Ch'ing Emperor," so it is seldom known when a particular imperial tablet would have been made, within the dynastic period.

Early in 1912 the writer saw an Imperial Tablet in the Tung Ta Mosque at K'ai-feng, where it was set forth not in the centre of the main hall, but towards the left. It was afterwards learnt that this tablet and other objects had been brought from the old synagogue, when it was demolished shortly after 1851. A second visit to the mosque failed to reveal any trace of the tablet, for it had been removed when the republican government came into power. But one object was found in the mosque at that time, which confirmed the rumour that many of its objects had come from the Jews' synagogue, and this was an empty Pentateuch case (t'ung), which is now safely housed in the Royal Ontario Museum.

It was in conflict with the principles of both Chinese Jews and Mohammedans to make obeisance to this tablet, but it was enjoined by law, and so various subterfuges were resorted to in order to evade this requirement. In the Mohammedan mosque the tablet was wither removed during worship, or had a small piece of paper placed in front of it when prostrations were made, with Allah (Chen Chu) written on it
[...]
When and how this use of the Imperial Tablet came into being cannot be ascertained. It was a government requirement throughout the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties, but was discontinued when the Republic was set up. There is a suggestion of an early origin in the History of the Former Han, where it is recorded that in the time of Han Wu Ti (140-87 B.C.) the Emperor accompanied by his officials ascended the Sung Kao mountain, and then by the Temple (miao) the assembly shouted Wan Sui three times (Ch'ien Han Shu, edn. 1739, vol. VI, p. 21)." (White, Vol. 2, p. 24, n. 23)

(6) I guess this was just a shelter out of respect. (15) This was a Hebrew inscription that read: "'Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.' (Deut. 6:4). Blessed be the glorious name of his kingship for ever and ever." (White, Vol. 2, p. 173) I'm assuming this was in defiance to the emperor's tablet. They put the praises of God above the praises of the emperor. (16) There are apparently other synagogues that also have domes.

The Hurva synagogue of Jerusalem:



The Oni synagogue of Georgia:



I found many other photos of synagogues with domes.


It was Hebrew, but, over time, less and less people studied Hebrew in order to advance their family's social position by study the Confucian classics and taking the imperial exams. This meant less and less people could understand the scriptures. With the death of the last rabbi sometime prior to the visit of two Chinese Jesuits in 1851, no one was able to read Hebrew at all. It was also during this time that the Jews fell out of the favor with the Monarchy, while Muslims became the favorites for some reason. People who associated with the Jews could be arrested. This is why some of the Jews (and Christians) went into hiding. Some Jews went so far as to deface the stone inscriptions that mentioned specific names to keep their families from being discriminated against.

Do you know why the Jews fell out of favour and why the Muslims became the favourite?

I would conjecture that European imperialism in China, which brought Chrstianity may have led to anti-semitism. The Chinese Monarchy may have saw Judaism equally as pervasive as Chritstianity, as they may have associated the Christian and Jewish doctrine as heresy (remember the Christians have the Old Testament which is equivalent to the Torah). Abrahamic religions are starkly different to Confucianism. Why the Muslims gained favour, I would have no idea.

I would venture a guess that it was a mix between the Muslims' distinguished service to the Ming and Qing and the anti-foreign / anti-Christian sentiment that formed during the mid 19th century. The Jews were once known for their own military men. In fact, the aforementioned stone inscriptions compare the bravery of the Jewish soldiers with Yue Fei because it refers to his famous tattoo “serve the country with the utmost loyalty”. Some Jews led joint Muslim-Jewish forces that helped protect Kaifeng during the rebel Li Zhicheng's 1642 siege of the city. However, the Jews never attained the same level of distinction as their Muslim brothers. (It is important to note that Rebel Li—some sources say the Ming army—flooded Kaifeng, which destroyed the synagogue, killed a large portion of the community, and scattered the survivors. The Jewish community never truly recovered from this.)

The UK's defeat of Chinese forces during the First Opium War of 1842 lead to anti-foreign sentiment that would permeate China into the 20th century. Almost a decade later, the Christian convert Hong Xiuquan proclaimed himself the brother of Jesus Christ and led the Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) against the Qing government. (It was during this rebellion when the last incarnation of the Chinese synagogue disappeared.) Since this was a Christian-based rebellion, this explains why the Manchus had animosity against Chinese Christians and, by association, Chinese Jews. I believe the Muslims' distinguished service protected them from the backlash.

Jesuit missionaries:

*Matteo Ricci - He was the very first westerner to learn about the Kaifeng Jews. He never actually visited the community, but sent a junior jesuit in his place.

*Pere Jean-Paul Gazni, S.J.

*Abbe Gabriel Brotier

*P. Jean Domenge, S.J.

*P. Antoine Gaubil, S.J.

*P. Jules Aleni, S.J.

*P. Rodriguez de Figueredo, S.J.

---------------------> Both lived in Kaifeng during Li Zhicheng's 1642 seige and shortly drowned thereafter when the city was flooded

*P. Christiano Enriquez, S.J.

*P. Philippe Grimaldi, S.J.

*P. Pierre Cibot, S.J.

*P. Ignaz Kogler, S.J.

*P. Jerome Tobar, S.J.

Protestant Christians:

*Chao Wen-k'uei

---------------------> Both were sent by the London Missionary Society at Shanghai

*Chao Chin-ch'eng

Scholars:

*Dr. David A. Brown

*Dr. David W.A.P. Martin

*Rev. J. Schereschewskey

*Bishop William Charles White (author of the book that I got this list from)

*There were others who visited, but I'll have to look through the book for more

Donald Leslie's The Chinese Hebrew Memorial Book states that the codex is not a list of living people, but a memorial to the dead. At the end of the list of male names, the codex reads:

"May his soul be [bound up] in the bundle of lie, together with the seven classes of righteous and pious ones, together with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Elijah, and Elisha, under the tree of life in the Garden of Eden."

The list for women reads similarly:

"May her soul be [bound up] in the bundle of lie, together with the seven classes of righteous and pious ones, together with Sarah and Rebekah, Rachel and Leah, Jochebed, Miriam and Zipporah, under the tree of life in the Garden of Eden."

Leslie confirms this because the German ritual of the Hazkarat Neshamot reads:

"May God remember the soul of my respected father,—, son of—, who has gone to his eternal home; on whose behalf I vow as alms—; may his soul be bound up in the bundle of life [see I Sam. xxv. 29] with the souls of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah, and all other righteous men and women that are in the Garden of Eden, and let us say, Amen."

Yes, these is nothing here that is particularly strange about this invocation.

There is actually a set mourner's kaddish (prayer) said in a Synagogue for various times following the death of a person. I would be interested to know what form this prayer took in China, since the form in common use makes a not uncommom reference to Jerusalem, "Magnified and sanctified be His Great Name in the world that is to be created anew when He will revive the dead and raise them up into life eternal, and when He will rebuild the city of Jerusalem and establish His Temple in the midst thereof, and uproot all false worship from the earth, and restore the worship of the true God. May the Holy One, blessed be He! reign in His sovereignty and glory during your life and in your days, and in the days of the whole household of Israel, speedily and at a near time. So say ye 'Amen!'"

I suspect this might have offended Imperial sensibilities. Do you know anything about this?

The codex mentions this same kaddish. It was apart of the 22 pages that I transcribed above from White's book:

"Page 7

May his great name be magnified and hallowed in the wor[ld which he hath created] according to his will, who will create the world anew, and quicken the dead, and s[av]e the living, and rebuild the city of Jerusalem, and complete the holy temple, and uproot alien worship from the ea[rth], and restore the worship of Heaven to its place, for his name's sake, for his Word's sake, and for the sake of the survivors of the captivity, our brethren. May he remember us for good, as in the days of old, may he bring near our end-time, may he give our Messiah, may he save us, and may he be gracious to our dead ones in his compassion, during your life, even the sons of his sanctuary, and during the life of all the captivity of Israel,

Page 8

even [speedily and at a] near [tim]e, and say ye, Amen."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leslie believes White did a bad job of translating it, so I will transcribe his version. He pinpoints the the Kaddish on a different pages:

"Page 6

(E. Kaddish DeRabbanan)

(a) May his great name be magnified and sanctified in the world (which he hath created according to his will); and in the world that he will create a new, where he will quicken the dead, and save the living; will rebuild the city of Jerusalem, and establish his holy temple, and will uproot all alien worship from the earth and restore the worship of Heave to its place;

(b) for his names sake, for his word's sake, and for the sake of the survivors of the exile, our brethren. May he remember us for our good, as in the days of old, may he bring near our end time, may he give (us) our Messiah, may he save us, and may he be gracious to our dead ones, in his compassion, during the lives of the sons of his temple, and during the life of all the exile of Israel,

Page 7

(b) (even speedily?) and at a near time, and say ye, Amen."

None of the sources I've read mention this prayer offending the monarchy. It was in Hebrew, so I doubt even the loftiest court scholar would be able to read it. I think the Hebrew inscription (lauding God as the "King of the Universe") which hung over the Qing Emperor's tablet in the synagogue would have been more offensive.

Leslie notes (a) "is almost identical to the Kaddish deRabbanan of Maimonides."

Thank you Ghostexorcist for this enlightening information. When I visited Kaifeng I explored the site of the synagogue and where the Jewish community resided. There wasn't anything there to show a link with Judaism except for one street name. Do you know if the Kaifeng Museum has any artifacts? I have heard that some steles from the synagogue are kept there. But it was closed for renovation when I visited. I have also read somewhere that there was a sizable contempory Jewish community in Hangzhou also. Do do have any information on this?

I have always wanted to explore that part of Kaifeng myself. Following the Taiping rebellion, the synagogue had completely disappeared. All that was left was a giant cesspool. What happened was that the Jews had sold the very earth that once supported the synagogue. Kaifeng had a major problem of flooding and dirt was often washing away from around people's houses. So people sold the extra mounds of earth they had to backfill the areas. The hole where the synagogue once stood filled in with rain water. The plot was eventually purchased by western missionaries and cleaned up.



I am not 100% on how many Jewish artifacts the Municipal Museum of Kaifeng holds. I know it at least holds the 1489 stone inscriptions. (I believe the others reside in Canada and the UK. I think the double-sided 1663 stele no longer exists.) Wang Yisha, Emeritus Curator of the Museum, collected several legends from the descendants of the Kaifeng Jews and published them in his Chinese book Spring and Autumn of the Chinese Jews (1993). These tales and more can be found in Xu Xin's English language book Legends of the Chinese Jews of Kaifeng (1995). One of the more interesting legends is that the Jews fled Bodrum, Turkey to escape the armies of the First Crusade that had crossed into Asia Minor. This legend was no doubt influenced by modern day Chinese translations of the Latin chronicles of the Crusades.

Hangzhou definitely had a Jewish community at one time. A recent translation of the 1489 stone inscription mentions how the Jews "abandoned Bianliang" (Bianliang = Kaifeng). This refers to the "Jingkang Incident" when the Jurchen armies of the Jin Dynasty attacked Kaifeng for a second time in 1127 and forced the Song Monarchy to flee to Hangzhou in the south. Although Matteo Ricci mentioned a synagogue in Hangzhou, I believe this community was functionally extinct prior to the 19th century. All of the stone inscriptions suggest there were Jewish communities in Ningpo, Ningxia, and Yangzhou in the 15th century or earlier. Missionary Alvarez Semmedo mentioned a synagogue in Nanjing. Jews were also claimed to have live in Quanzhou and Kunming. Explorers Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo mentioned Jewish merchant communities in the ports of southern China.

Thanks ghostexorcist. It appears by your information that most of the Jewish communities were based in trading centres along trade routes. So they lived where perhaps they could conduct business and trade and lack an air of permanence. But none of these communities seem to have survived into the late Qing except Kaifeng. Interesting as Kaifeng was considered quite a backwater then and had even been abandoned after great floods in late Ming. It appears that this was the most permanent and long term viable Jewish community in China. Had the Kaifeng Jews lost their mobile commerce orientated way of life by then?

I believe a hospital now stands directly over the synagogue site. I have read in a guide book that the well head from the synagogue still exists in the hospitals plant and machinery room.

Scholars agree that the Chinese-Jews became isolated from other Jewish communities at some point. Some of the calligraphy from their religious texts have been recognized as coming from Persia. I think it dated from the 15th or 16th century. The 1512 inscription details the careers the Jews pursued:

"Should one desire to see what is taking place today, it may be said that some, having gained degrees in literature, bring 'glory to their parents' and acquire 'renown for themselves'; and others, in positions of dignity either in or outside [the court, serve their prince and spread benefits among the people. Some are engaged in military operations, both offensive and defensive, and spend themselves in their loyalty and gratitude to the empire (Ghost note - 尽忠报国, a reference to the tattoo on Gen. Yue Fei's back). There are those who cultivate moral qualities, and give an example by goodness to the whole country-side. Moreover there are farmers who till their fields in the country districts, and draw from the soil the wherewithal to pay the public tribute; and artisans who in their trades provide a sufficiency of articles of common use; and traders who diligently engaged in commerce in far-away lands. so that their names are famous along the rivers and lakes; and finally, business men who are shopkeepers and make profits in the markets."

The complete isolation had to come after the 1642 flood, which ended the Jews' "golden age". You must also think about how the Qing rulers cut China off from the outside world. I'm sure this severely hindered Jewish trade. By the first half of the 20th century, descendants of the Kaifeng Jews had many different kinds of vocations. Wang Yisha of the Municipal Museum of Kaifeng lists the following:

7 - Proprietors of handcraft and mercantile shops ...

4 - Proprietors of goods and sundries shops

5 - Odds and ends dealers

2 - Independent handicraftsmen (one silversmith, one cotton flutter)

7 - Workers (3 house painters, 1 carpenter, 1 stevedore, 2 mailmen)

4 - Teachers (2 private school teachers, 1 family tutor, 1 missionary school teacher--female)

1 - Saltmaker and coalduster seller

1 - Vegetable peddler

1 - Bookkeeper in a foreign goods shop

1 - Buddhist monk

1 - Unemployed

Was the Buddhist monk a lapsed Jew? I assume so?!

If so, then were the other descendants all practising Jews or otherwise?

None of them were practicing Jews at this point. When the Chinese protestants visited the community for the second time in 1851, no one followed the religion, but, interestingly, they still performed circumcisions and abstained from pork. I'm guessing this was out of tradition. The protestants did talk two members of the community into returning to Shanghai with them to learn Hebrew, though. However, one of the Jews died and the other gave up. There were a couple of instances were Jews were taken to the north to learn Hebrew, but it was later discovered they were not really Jews. I believe they pretended to be Jews to get free food and lodgings.

Also, by this time, many Jews had converted to Islam or the native religions of China to avoid persecution. Jewish daughters were routinely married into Muslim families. I think the descendant becoming a Buddhist monk shows just how assimilated the Kaifeng Jews eventually became.

I think some of the Jews who passed the imperial exams stopped practicing Judaism, especially those who were posted so far from home. This parallels with some of the Jews who served under the Egyptian Caliphs. The al-Tustaris (origin of the modern name "Shustar"), among the most famous merchant families of the 11th century, had many family members that served as viziers to Caliphs and the Queen mother. They had to convert to Islam in order to fulfill their tasks.

[Edit] - The two Jews who were talked into learning Hebrew in Shanghai were named Chao Wen-k'uei and Chao Chin-ch'eng.

Your comments on the willingness of the lapsed Jews to re-adopt the faith are interesting.

In The Lost Tribes of Israel: The History of a Myth, Tudor Parfitt examined many of the so-called Lost tribes. He found that many were not in fact really Jews, but people practising shamanistic traditions who were happy to be perceived as Jews by Christian missionaries, as it gave them favoured treatment under colonial administrations. In some cases the tribes were encouraged to believe they were practising forms of Judaism, since the missionaries then sought to convert the "Jews" to Christianity.

Obviously this was not he case with the Kaifeng Jews, but I find the attitude of the protestant missionaries interesting. Exactly what their motivations were for encouraging these people to renew the practice of Judaism would be interesting to know.

Mistaking one group for another sounds similar to something else that happened to Sino-Judaic scholars. 19th century researcher A. Wylie mistook Zoroastrian temples for Jewish synagogues. The Chinese scholar Hung Chun of the same era thought Wo-tuo (斡脫), a term designating "Muslim Commercial Organisations" during the Yuan Dynasty, referred to Jews. Both mistakes were echoed in papers by later scholars in the same field.


I have always been puzzled by this one myself. The two Protestant Chinese missionaries who visited the community twice between 1850-51 were sent by a Bishop Smith who worked for the "London society for promoting Christianity among the Jews". The name of this society alone sounds like they wanted to make them Christians, but why bother teaching them Hebrew and buy up their holy relics to protect them? It sounds more like they were trying to save the community than convert them.

Parfitt, in his book, covers the work of Smith and his society in some detail. I will have to see if I can track down the book in the city library and refressh my memory on exactly what they were up to. It may also have been the case that producing evidence of a practising Jewish community in China would have led to an increase in donations, but that is entirely speculation on my part.

I found a paper written by Bishop Smith in 1851 that answered my question:

"Since the British Treaty of Nanking in 1842, many Christians in Europe have directed their attention towards the Jews in China; and anticipations in some instances may have been cherished respecting their present condition and future destinies such as the incidents of the subjoined narrative will fail to gratify or confirm. A benevolent lady lately deceased, and well known for her deeds of pious munificence in the support of Christian missions, placed the necessary funds for carrying out such an inquiry at the disposal of the 'London Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews.' it was at their request that the writer of these Introductory Remarks undertook to direct the general plan and management of the undertaking. The subject is thus noticed in the Society's Annual Report for 1849." (White, Chinese Jews, Part I, pp. 98-99)

They certainly wanted to convert them, but the plot is a little more complex, from my recollection. I am flat out but will see if I can get a copy of Parfitt's book this week maybe.

Correction. A Jesuit who visited the community in the early 18th century said "their ritual and commentary were not in Hebrew but in another language (in Hebrew script)." Donald Leslie says the Jews probably spoke Judaeo-Persian* since this was the language of their religious texts. He goes on to say "[w]e have no evidence as to whether these Jews ever spoke Hebrew." (Leslie, The Survival of the Chinese Jews, pp. 118-119)

I mistakenly thought Hebrew since Judaeo-Persian is written with Hebrew letters.

*He points out that "Persian was on of the languages taught at the Interpreters' College in Peking under the Mongols." (p. 118)

This makes sense. I would be less surprised the practised Judaism in a vernacular form than if they used Hebrew. After all, most Jews in Judea used Greek at the end of the Second Temple period.

I think it is interesting that their chosen language for religious services was based on what was taught in the Imperial Interpreters' College. It suggests by this time they had become totally separated from other Jewish communities, but were trying vainly to reconstruct the elements of the practice of their faith.

Leslie notes that Persian "was the lingua franca of most of the foreign traders in India and the Chinese coast for several hundreds of years." (Kublin, Studies of the Chinese Jews, p. 190) So it was a very common language at that time. That's why it was taught at the Interpreter's college.

A Jesuit who visited the community in the early 18th century noted that the Jews told them that it had been 200 years since the community had received foreign Jews from Persia. Leslie believes contact with Jewish communities outside of China was lost by the 18th century. However, there were several communities in China. For instance, the Kaifeng Jews received two religious scrolls from Jews in Ningpo in 1462. Matteo Ricci mentioned a community with a synagogue in Hangzhou in 1608. Scholars point to other possible communities in Beijing, Yangzhou, and Ningxia.

Great post.

What possibe sources do we have, other than Christian missionaries for the state of the Jewish community at various times? It seems strange they did not attract much attention from Chinese sources.

Thanks.

I can't seem to find the exact page, but I remember Leslie mentioning that the Chinese had a dismissive attitude in regards to mentioning foreigners in their native records. Besides the stone, archway, and synagogue inscriptions, there are a handful of references to Jews in Chinese sources, but only those from the early Qing are explicitly about the Jews of Kaifeng. The first references appear in Yuan Dynasty records:

Shan-chu hsin-hua by Yang Yu

This unofficial source was written in 1360, but refers to 1277-1294: “The officials in the Hangchow sugar board were all rich Jewish and Muslim? Merchants.”

The translator notes these merchants “were punished for misusing their position and giving false weights.”

From the Yuan-tien-chang (The Statutes of the Yuan)

*January 27, 1280: “Henceforward, Musulmen and Jews, no matter who kills the meat, will eat it, and cease killing sheep by their own hands, and will cease the rite of Sunnah, such as the namaz (prayers) of five worships per day.”
*July-August, 1320: “Muslims?, Nestorians, Jews, and Ta-shi-man, except those in actual charge of temples and services, [are] to pay taxes.”



From the Yuan Shi

*April 19, 1329: “Buddhist and Taoist priests, Nestorians, Jews and Ta-shih-man, who engage in trade, [are] to be taxed according to the old regulation...”
*November 24, 1340: “Ta-shih-man, Muslims? And Jews should be prohibited from marrying paternal cousins.”
*May-June, 1354: “The skilled archers of Ningsia and wealthy Muslims? And Jews from various places were summoned to the capital to volunteer for military service.” (Leslie, Survival of the Chinese Jews, pp. 12-14)

Travelers such as Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo referred to Jews in their journals, but these are just Jews in general and not the Jews of Kaifeng.

Though they are not identified as Jews, local gazetteers from various cities in Henan mention Jews that passed imperial exams and held various government posts. The gazetteers are:

*Hsiang-fu Hsien-chih - 1661, 1739 and 1898
*K'ai-feng Fu-chih - 1585 and 1695
*Ho-nan T'ung-chih - 1556, 1660, 1735 and 1767 (p. 203)

Two works from the early Qing describe Kaifeng prior to the flood of 1642. The anonymous "Record as in a Dream" (c. 1650), which is attributed to Li Kuang-t'ien, mentions the synagogue. The "Diary of the Defense of Pien" (c. 1664, possible from a diary of 1642) by Li Kuang-t'ien mentions how a Jew named Li Yao led a joint Muslim-Jewish force to defend the city against the rebel forces of Li Tzu-ch'eng. (p. 204)

On the reverse, there is a lack of references to China in Jewish sources. Scholars note that the Jewish and Muslim merchants of Song China left little to no evidence of their once prominent presence in the southern ports. S.D. Goitein, author of the marvelous India Traders of the Middle Ages, states “not a single Geniza letter referring to direct contacts with China has been discovered thus far. The Cairo Geniza is a treasure trove of over 200,000 religious and secular documents that, among other things, record the day-to-day business of Jewish merchants between Spain and India. It's strange that the Jews would not keep records of their dealings in China.

William, I thought you might find a few things I just read about interesting. J.L. Liebermann, the first western Jew to visit the Kaifeng Jews, wrote a Hebrew letter to his father that described his ten day visit to the community in July, 1867. A section of the letter reads:

"When the last of their elders died, the knowledge of the Scriptures completely ceased among them. By order of the government, Scrolls of the Law were exhibited in the open market place, and an advertisement in Chinese was inscribed by the side, offering a reward and a leading position to anyone who would be able to explain the wording of the Scroll." (Leslie, Survival of the Chinese Jew, pp. 62-63)

Oliver Bainbridge visited the community in 1906 and reported various things including that the Jews had sold one of their religious scrolls to a missionary in 1899. He notes the other had "vanished to Heaven (or been stolen by a trick." The accompanying footnote reads "The story that a Taoist priest had managed to steal Hebrew writings by the telling the Jews to leave them to air is repeated by several..." (p. 66, footnote #1) If true, that's strange that a Taoist priest would want Hebrew scriptures. Perhaps he felt they had magic properties.

This is fascinating stuff. To start with, I had always believe the tale that Nestorianism had died out after Tang purges of foreign religions in the 10th century.

Leslie's reference to the 1354 proclamation is interesting. There must have been sufficient numbers of Jews for it to be worth making such a proclamation.

I suspect that the prohibition on marrying paternal cousins would have bee a problem for the community though. In Judaism there is no prohibition on marrying first cousins, but there is a strong emphasis on maintaining the community through marriage. In fact one is Jewish of one's mother is Jewish.

The pattern of these records is also interesting for the records of where the Jews were located. Henan has access through the mountains to Infdia, where there has been a strong Jewish community over the years, and suggests a route through the Himalayas, rather than over the Hindu Kush, or by sea, was a means of transmission and a link with other Jewish communities. If so, this might explain why Cairo had not records of the Jews in China. It may have meant there were no direct communications, but only through India. There were and are a number of Jewish groupings in India, and some were more literate and connected with the outside world than others

Following the 1340 proclamation against marrying paternal cousins, it is stated "There is a further regulation in the same chapter which prohibits foreigners from marrying their 'father's younger brother's wife.' The accompanying foot note reads "Marriage and the Levirate in China: Laufer, followed by Lowenthal, mentions the forbidding of the levirate in the Yuan Shih for 1340. however, the mongols actually introduced the (forbidden) levirate (marrying (an older) brother's window) into China, to be forbidden again specifically in the Ming (see, e.g., Han-yi Feng, The Chinese Kenship System, 1948, Cambridge, Mass. p. 52) ..."

Professor Xin Xu's book Legends of the Chinese Jews of Kaifeng has a story about a younger brother marrying the widow of his older brother. The resulting child was considered the older brother's son.

Today, the descendants of the Kaifeng Jews are not eligible for the "Law of return" since the Jews intermarried with the Chinese for centuries. So, in essence, they were not considered Jewish because their mothers were not Jewish.


Some scholars state the Jews' Persian is similar to that used in Bokhara (Uzbekistan) and Korassan (parts of Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). This might suggest travel to China via the silk road. However, as I stated before, Persian was a common language in Central Asia and China. The Stone inscriptions of the Jews state they entered China from the "western region of India" (T'ien-chu Hsi-yu). Multiple Jesuits who visited the community emphasized that they felt Hsi-yu (western region) referred to Persia. A few scholars just think this refers to Israel.

Proponents of the Persian origin have stated: "The pointings of the Persian words do not allow us to think that these colonists were of Indian origin at all; because one great peculiarity of the Indian pronunciation of Persian words consists in broadening of sound, especially in the frequent use of o for a, but this peculiarity is not to be observe any of the MSS. in our possession." They say this is why the Jews could not have been Indian Jews. But that doesn't mean they weren't Persian Jews who lived in India. I personally believe the ancestors of the kaifeng Jews were merchants who took part in the "India Trade". These merchants lived in India for upwards of 30 or more years and regularly transported cotton and imported Chinese vases and medicinal herbs back to the middle east. I have no doubt that some made their way to China since Jewish merchants were active in the southern Song ports.

Leslie points out most sino-Judaic scholars favor entry into China via the Sea. They believe the Jews were merchants who introduced India's cotton trade to China. On the other hand, it is primarily Jewish scholars who favor the land route because they wrongly accept the Han Dynasty entry theory. Leslie says there is not enough evidence to support such an early arrival.