History of the Jews in China
中国犹太人 / 中國猶太人 יהודים סיניים | |
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Total population | |
3,000 (2021) |
Part of a series on |
Jews and Judaism |
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Jews and Judaism in China are predominantly composed of
The Jewish Chinese community manifests a wide range of Jewish cultural traditions and it also encompasses the full spectrum of Jewish religious observance. Though a small minority, Chinese Jews have had an open presence in the country since the arrival of the first Jewish immigrants during the 8th century AD. Relatively isolated communities of Jews developed through the Tang and Song dynasties (7th to 13th centuries AD) all the way through the Qing dynasty (19th century), most notably the Kaifeng Jews (the term "Chinese Jews" is often used in a restricted sense in order to refer to these communities). In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Jewish merchants from around the world began to trade in Chinese ports, particularly in the commercial centres of
Overview
The presence of a community of Jewish immigrants in China arguably began sometime in the Song dynasty, though a number of scholars have argued for their presence there in earlier Tang dynasty times. In the 9th century, the Persian geographer
During the period of China's opening to the West and British quasi-colonialism, the first group to settle in China were Jews who arrived in China under British protection following the
Many Jews in China converted to Islam and became Hui Muslims.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]
Over the centuries, the Kaifeng community came to be virtually indistinguishable from the Hui and Han Chinese population and is therefore no longer recognized by the Chinese government as a separate
Today, many descendants of the Jews have assimilated into
History
It has been asserted by some that the Jews who have historically resided in various places in China originated with the
One well-known group was the
Origins
There is an oral tradition that the first Jews immigrated to China through Persia following the Roman Emperor Titus's capture of Jerusalem in 70 CE. A large number of Jews emigrated from Persia during the reign of Emperor Ming of Han (58–75 CE).[23] Writing in 1900, Father Joseph Brucker hypothesized that Jews came to China from India by a sea route since ancient times.
Three
Father Joseph Brucker believed
Many Jewish communities were established in China in the Middle Ages. However, not all left evidence of their existence. The following are those known today: Kaifeng, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Yangzhou, Ningxia, Guangzhou, Beijing, Quanzhou, Nanjing, Xi'an and Luoyang.[24]
Names
The contemporary term for Jews in use among Chinese today is Youtairen (
It has been recorded that the Chinese historically called the Jews Tiao jin jiao (挑筋教), loosely, "the religion which removes the sinew,"[25] probably referring to the Jewish dietary prohibition against eating the sciatic nerve (from Genesis 32:32).[26]
Jewish dietary law (
Jews have also been called the Blue-Hat Hui (Chinese: 藍帽回; pinyin: Lánmào Húi), in contrast to other populations of Hui people, who have identified with hats of other colors.[25] The distinction between Muslim and Jewish Hui is not, and historically has not been, well recognised by the dominant Han population.[citation needed]
A modern translation of the "Kaifeng Steles" has shown the Jews referred to their synagogue as "The Pure and Truth", which is essentially the same as the term used in modern China to refer to Muslim mosques (清真寺). lǐbàisì 禮拜寺 and qīngzhēnsì 清真寺 were used as names of both synagogues and mosques by Jews and Muslims.[27]
According to an oral tradition dictated by Xu Xin, Director of the Centre for Judaic Studies at Nanjing University, in his book Legends of the Chinese Jews of Kaifeng, the Kaifeng Jews called Judaism Yīcìlèyè jiào (一賜樂業教), lit. the religion of Israel. Yīcìlèyè is a transliteration and partial translation of "Israel". Xu Xin translates this phrase as "Chosen people, endowed by God, and contented with their lives and work".[citation needed]
Early record
The earliest evidence showing the presence of Jews in China is from the beginning of the 8th century: a business letter written in the
China was a destination for
Sources indicate that Jews in China were often mistaken for
Famous
Among all the [subject] alien peoples only the Hui-hui say “we do not eat Mongol food”. [Cinggis Qa’an replied:] “By the aid of heaven we have pacified you; you are our slaves. Yet you do not eat our food or drink. How can this be right?” He thereupon made them eat. “If you slaughter sheep, you will be considered guilty of a crime.” He issued a regulation to that effect ... [In 1279/1280 under Qubilai] all the Muslims say: “if someone else slaughters [the animal] we do not eat”. Because the poor people are upset by this, from now on, Musuluman [Muslim] Huihui and Zhuhu [Jewish] Huihui, no matter who kills [the animal] will eat [it] and must cease slaughtering sheep themselves, and cease the rite of circumcision.[35]
During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), a Ming emperor conferred seven surnames upon the Jews, by which they are identifiable today: Ai (艾), Shi (石), Gao (高), Jin (金), Li (李), Zhang (張), and Zhao (趙).[36][37] Two of these, Jin and Shi, are the equivalent of common Jewish names in the west: Gold and Stone.[38][39]
The first modern
The Jews who managed the synagogue were called "Mullahs". Floods and fire repeatedly destroyed the books of the Kaifeng synagogue. They obtained some from Ningxia and Ningbo to replace them. Another Hebrew roll of law was bought from a Muslim in Ning-keang-chow in Shen-se (Shanxi), who acquired it from a dying Jew at Canton.[41]
The Chinese called Muslims, Jews, and Christians in ancient times by the same name, "Hui Hui" (Hwuy-hwuy). Crossworshipers (Christians) were called the "Huay who abstain from animals without the cloven foot", Muslims were called "Hwuy who abstain from pork", Jews were called "Hwuy who extract the sinews (removes the sciatic nerve)". Hwuy-tsze (Hui zi) or Hwuy-hwuy (Hui Hui) is presently used almost exclusively for Muslims, but Jews were still called Lan Maou Hwuy tsze (Lan mao Hui zi) which means "Blue cap Hui zi". At Kaifeng, Jews were called "Teaou kin keaou "extract sinew religion". Jews and Muslims in China shared the same name for synagogue and mosque, which were both called "Tsing-chin sze" (Qingzhen si) "Temple of Purity and Truth", the name dated to the 13th century. The synagogue and mosques were also known as Le-pae sze (Libai si). A tablet indicated that Judaism was once known as "Yih-tsze-lo-nee-keaou" (israelitish religion) and synagogues known as Yih-tsze lo nee leen (Israelitish Temple), but it faded out of use.[42]
A Muslim in Nanjing told Semedo that four families of Jews converted to Islam since they were the last Jews in Nanjing, their numbers diminishing.[43]
Various Jewish Chinese individuals worked in government service and owned big properties in China in the 17th century.[44]
Modern times
Contemporaneous sources estimated the Jewish population in China in 1940—including Manchukuo—at 36,000 (source: Catholic Encyclopedia).
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Jewish merchants from around the world began to trade in Chinese ports, particularly in the commercial centres of
Shanghai
Jewish life in Shanghai had really taken off with the arrival of the British.
Russian Jews
At the early 20th century many Russian Jews fleeing pogroms in several towns in
Dr. Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Republic of China, admired the Jewish people and Zionism, and he also saw parallels between the persecution of Jews and the domination of China by the Western powers. He stated, "Though their country was destroyed, the Jewish nation has existed to this day ... [Zionism] is one of the greatest movements of the present time. All lovers of democracy cannot help but support wholeheartedly and welcome with enthusiasm the movement to restore your wonderful and historic nation, which has contributed so much to the civilization of the world and which rightfully deserve [sic] an honorable place in the family of nations."[56]
The Japanese occupation of Northeast China in 1931 and the establishment of Manchukuo in 1932 had a negative impact on the Harbin Jewish community (13,000 in 1929). Most of those Jews left Harbin for Tianjin, Shanghai, and the British Mandate of Palestine. Until 1939, the Russian Jews were about 5,000 in Shanghai.[57]
World War II
Another wave of 18,000 Jews from
Shanghai was an important safe-haven for Jewish refugees during the Holocaust, since it was one of the few places in the world where one didn't need a visa. However, it was not easy to get there. The Japanese, who controlled the city, preferred to look the other way. However, some corrupt officials also exploited the plight of the Jews. By 1941, nearly 20,000 European Jews had found shelter there.
Notable Jews during the
Late in the war, Nazi representatives pressured the Japanese army to devise a plan to exterminate Shanghai's Jewish population, and this pressure eventually became known to the Jewish community's leadership. However, the Japanese had no intention of further provoking the anger of the Allies after their already notorious invasion of China and their additional invasion of a number of other Asian nations, so they delayed the German request until the War ended. With the intercession of the Amshenower Rebbe and the translation skills of Leo (Ariyeh) Hanin, the Japanese ultimately kept the Jews of Shanghai safe.[60]
In general, in the period from 1845 to 1945, more than 40,000 Jews came to China to do business or in search of a safe haven.[61]
Late 20th century
After
Structured Jewish life returned to Beijing in 1979 with the founding of Kehillat Beijing, an egalitarian lay-led community serving ex-patriate Jews from all over the world.
Sara Imas, the Shanghai-born daughter of Shanghai's Jewish Club president, Leiwi Imas, became the first Chinese Jewish immigrant to Israel after the two countries established formal diplomatic relations in 1992. Leiwi Imas, who had to leave Germany for Poland in 1939, arrived in Shanghai the same year. He spent his final years in Shanghai until 1962, prior to the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. Although Sara Imas's non-Chinese appearance and family background brought her much trouble during the Cultural Revolution when she was accused of being a foreign capitalist and spy, today Sara Imas has returned to Shanghai, working as the Chinese representative of an Israeli diamond company.
On June 27, 1985, an international group of scholars and activists gathered in Palo Alto, California to establish the Sino-Judaic Institute.[64] Rabbi Anson Laytner serves as the incumbent president.[65]
The
Since the 1990s, the Shanghai municipal government has taken the initiative to preserve historical Western architectures that were constructed during Shanghai's colonial past. Many formerly Jewish-owned hotels and private residence have been included in the preservation project. In 1997, the
21st century
As of 2010, it is estimated that 2,000 to 3,000 Jews lived in Shanghai.[citation needed] In May 2010, the Ohel Rachel Synagogue in Shanghai was temporarily reopened to the local Jewish community for weekend services.[69] Synagogues are found in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, serving both native Chinese Jews, Israelis and diaspora Jewish communities across the world.[70]
In 2001, Rabbi Shimon Freundlich from the
As of 2019, Harbin could claim a single Jewish inhabitant, professor Dan Ben-Canaan, who helped advise the local government on restoring the city's synagogues and other Jewish-related buildings.[73]
Kaifeng's Jewish community has reported increasing suppression by the authorities since 2015, reversing the modest revival it experienced in the 1990s. The observance of public religious services and the celebration of religious festivals like Passover and Sukkot have been prohibited, and Jewish community groups have been shut down. Signs have been removed from the Kaifeng Synagogue, a historical site located on Teaching the Torah Lane that is now under strict surveillance.[74]
A small number of Chinese Jews have succeeded in making aliyah and immigrating to Israel with the help of private organisations such as Shavei Israel.
Notable Chinese-born people of Jewish ancestry
- Song Dandan, an actress who often appears in the Chinese New Year's Gala on CCTV
- Stanley Ho, founder and Chairman of SJM Holdings which owns nineteen casinos in Macau including the Grand Lisboa, nicknamed variously Godfather and King of Gambling, reflecting the government-granted monopoly he held on the Macau gambling industry for 75 years
- Josie Ho, Stanley Ho's daughter, who is of Dutch Jewish ancestry. Hong Kong-based actress.
- Laurence Tribe, an American professor of constitutional law born to European Jewish parents
- Ron Klinger, an Australian leading English-language bridge writer, born in Shanghai to European Jewish parents
- Mike Medavoy, an American film producer of Ukrainian Jewish descent
- Zhao Yingcheng, a Ming dynasty official from the 17th century, member of the Kaifeng Jewish community
- Sir Michael David Kadoorie, a Hong Kong billionaire businessman, and the chairman and 18% owner of CLP Group
See also
- Antisemitism in China
- Chinese people in Israel
- History of the Jews in Hong Kong
- History of the Jews in Taiwan
- Kaifeng Jews
- Ten Lost Tribes
- People's Republic of China–Israel relations
- Religion in China
- Freedom of religion in China
- Shanghai Ghetto
References
Citations
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... the Jewish presence in the city predates this year.242 According to the 1489 inscription, the founders of the Kaifeng ... while others state that the Jews of Beijing and Nanjing converted to Islam.249 The same Ricci was the first to ...
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Out of the seven original clans of Kaifeng Jews, the Zhang clan was said to have converted to Islam in the beginning of the twentieth century with the decline of the community and the problems in that period of China's history.
- ^ Dubov, Kalman. Journey to the People's Republic of China; Review & Analysis. Kalman Dubov.
Most of the Zhang converted to Islam. Jews who managed the synagogues were called mullahs. A high number of Kaifeng Jews passed the difficult Chinese Civil Service examination during the Ming Dynasty. Four inscriptions from 1489, 1512, ...
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A 1757 regulation in the Paradesi record book stated : " If an Israelite or a ger [ apparently, a convert from outside Cochin ] marries a woman from the daughters ... of the mshuchrarim, the sons who are born to them go after the ...
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Some ancestor rituals may still be carried out by Kaifeng Jewish descent groups today; it is hoped that ongoing ... a convert from outside Cochin] marries a woman from the daughters ... of the mshuchrarim, the sons who are born to them ...
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Characteristically, however, the Jewish people did not observe special memorial days for most of its ancient and ... No one seems to have seriously questioned the permissibility of the Kaifeng Jews marrying more than one wife.
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In any case, the Kaifeng Jews did not stand out as an exotic community, for there were a large number of Muslims there, ... and they did not intermarry.93 According to most authorities, many Jews finally assimilated to Islam.
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Muslim religious strictures required anyone, whether man or woman, who married a Muslim to convert to Islam . ... An San, a Kaifeng Jew, was awarded a rank of Third Grade, because of services he had rendered to the court ... -followers were not assimilated into the Han population. Jews who married Muslims had to embrace Islam. This is one of the reasons the Jews were assimilated.
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A 1757 regulation in the Paradesi record book stated : " If an Israelite or a ger (apparently, a convert from outside Cochin) marries a woman from the daughters ... of the mshuchrarim, the sons who are born to them go after the ...
- ^ Points East, Volumes 1-7. Sino-Judaic Institute. 1986. p. 8.
Even the first generation of a mixed marriage will often find the offspring only too happy to escape into the non ... Though the Jews converted to Islam, they apparently retained a Jewish coloration, much like Jews to convert to ...
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The community was also weakened by repeated natural, military and economic catastrophes that Kaifeng experienced over the centuries. Fire and flood took their toll,
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halal chinggis khan you are our slaves.
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muslim community added to its numbers accession chinese jews converted islam.
- ^ Kupfer (2008), p. 47: "Later, in the 19th and 20th centuries, it is likely, as suggested by many scholars, that several of the Kaifeng Jews did convert to Islam rather than simply being swallowed up in the Buddhist or Confucian multitude. Today, a number of Muslims (and possibly non-Muslims) have discovered that their ancestors were Kaifeng Jews.108... 108 Jin Xiaojing 金效靜, 1981, translated in Points East 1.1 (Jan 1986), 1, 4-5 . She discovered she was of Jewish descent when on the hajj to Mecca!"
- ^ 金效静;;中国的犹太人[J];社会科学战线;1981年04期
- ^ Kupfer (2008), p. 196: "Islamic works translated into Chinese played a very important role in the popularization of Islam . At the same time, many Jews who did not like to abandon their tradition converted to Islam and were known as the “ Huihui with blue hats A 藍帽回回” . The missionary work of Christians from the beginning of the 17th century and the Chinese Bible did not affect them."
- ^ Kupfer (2008), p. 106: "Others said he may indeed be from the Zhang clan, but that the clan (one of the "Seven Surnames") had apparently converted to Islam over a century ago."
- ^ Kupfer (2008), p. 18: "26 Some of those who converted to Islam, like the Zhang family, still seem to cherish this past as well and consider themselves as "fake Moslems". This has been confirmed by Zhang Qianhong and Li Jingwen in "Some Observations ...," 2000, p. 165."
- ^ Kupfer (2008), p. 48: "This also involves a difficult study of the relations that existed between the Kaifeng Jews and Muslims there. A number of Jewish descendants converted to Islam rather than melting into the general populations. What is their attitude to Judaism now?"
- ^ Kupfer (2008), p. 50: "It is clear from Shi's later descriptions that many of the tombstones he saw were Muslim rather than Jewish, though one, he claimed, read "Religion of Israel" in Hebrew. In Hangzhou, according to Ricci in 1608, there had been a synagogue. We can only wonder whether the Jews there had a separate cemetery of their own or were accepted by the Muslims in their special cemetery."
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Sources
- Works cited
- Kupfer, Peter, ed. (2008). Youtai - Presence and Perception of Jews and Judaism in China. FASK, Publikationen des Fachbereichs Angewandte Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz in Germersheim: Abhandlungen und Sammelbände. Vol. 47. Universität Mainz. ISSN 0941-9543.
- JSTOR 29779835.
- General references
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "China". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
- This article incorporates text from Chinese and Japanese repository of facts and events in science, history and art, relating to Eastern Asia, Volume 1, a publication from 1863, now in the public domain in the United States.
- This article incorporates text from The preaching of Islam: a history of the propagation of the Muslim faith, by Sir Thomas Walker Arnold, a publication from 1896, now in the public domain in the United States.
Further reading
- Adler, Marcus N. "Chinese Jews." The Jewish Quarterly Review 13.1 (1900): 18-41. online
- Eber, Irene, and Kathryn Hellerstein, eds. Jews in China: Cultural Conversations, Changing Perceptions (2021) excerpt
- Ehrlich, M. Avrum. Jews and Judaism in modern China (Routledge, 2009).
- Finn, James. The Jews in China: Their Synagogue, Their Scriptures, Their History (1843) very old guide online.
- Katz, Yossi. "The Jews of China and their Contribution to the Establishment of the Jewish National Home in Palestine in the First Half of the Twentieth Century." Middle Eastern Studies 46.4 (2010): 543-554.
- Kaufman, Jonathan. The Last Kings of Shanghai: The Rival Jewish Dynasties That Helped Create Modern China (2021) excerpt
- Laytner, Anson, and Jordan Paper, The Chinese Jews of Kaifeng: A Millennium of Adaptation and Endurance (Lexington Books, 2017).
- JSTOR 29779835.
- Loewenthal, Rudolf. "The nomenclature of Jews in China." Monumenta Serica 12.1 (1947): 97-126.
- Malek, Roman. From Kaifeng to Shanghai: Jews in China (Routledge, 2017).
- Neubauer, Adolf. "Jews in China." The Jewish Quarterly Review 8.1 (1895): 123-139. online
- Paper, Jordan. The Theology of the Kaifeng Jews, 1000–1850 (Wilfrid Laurier UP, 2012)
- Perlmann, S. M. The History of the Jews in China (R. Mazin, 1913) online.
- Pollack, Michael. Mandarins, Jews, and Missionaries: the Jewish experience in the Chinese Empire, (New York: Weatherhill, 1998), ISBN 978-0-8348-0419-7.
- Wald, Shalom Salomon. China and the Jewish People (2004)
- White, William Charles. Chinese Jews, (2nd ed, Paragon, 1966).
- Xu, Xin. The Jews of Kaifeng, China: History, Culture, and Religion (2003). online
- Xun, Zhou. Chinese Perceptions of the Jews' and Judaism: A History of the Youtai (Routledge, 2013).
- Zane, Nicholas. Jews in China: A History of Struggle (2019) excerpt
Historiography and Memory
- Goldstein, Jonathan, and Benjamin I. Schwartz. The Jews of China: v. 1: Historical and Comparative Perspectives (Routledge, 2015).
- Goldstein, Jonathan. The Jews of China: v. 2: A Sourcebook and Research Guide (Routledge, 2018) online
- Raiskin, Shlomy. "A Bibliography on Chinese Jewry", Moreshet Israel (Journal of Judaism, Zionism and Eretz-Israel), No. 3 (September 2006), pp. 60–85.
- Ross, James R. et al. eds. The Image of Jews in Contemporary China (2019) excerpt
- Shapiro, Sidney. Jews in Old China, Studies by Chinese Scholars, (Hippocrene Books, 1984), online
- Shulman, Frank Joseph. "The Chinese Jews and the Jewish Diasporas in China from the Tang Period (AD 618-906) through the Mid-1990s: A Selected Bibliography." The Jews of China (Routledge, 2018) pp. 157–183.
- Song, Lihong. "From 'Jews in China' to 'Jews and China'." Journal of Modern Jewish Studies 17.4 (2018): 487-495.
External links
- Schnorientalism: The Tao of Jews, The Jewish Forward