Descendants
of centuries-old Jewish community in China's Kaifeng rediscover
Jewish heritage after near complete assimilation in local community
Rami
Tal Published: 09.01.08, 12:46 / Israel Jewish Scene
In Chinese terms, the city of Kaifeng, about 500 miles southwest
of Beijing, is reminiscent of the Israeli city of Hadera: The
number of its residents is 700,000 – as opposed to Beijing's
15 million or Shanghai's 20 million – and it doesn't even
have its own airport.
However,
a thousand years ago, Kaifeng was the capital of the Chinese empire,
the largest, richest and most advanced in the world at the time,
with 600,000 residents that made it the most populated city on
earth.
Ancient
Kaifeng had a Jewish community – a small but thriving one,
whose story is unique in the history of the Jewish people. For
the 800 years of its existence, Kaifeng's Jews never suffered
from persecution or discrimination. The Chinese authorities, as
well as the general population, welcomed their Jewish neighbors,
viewed them as citizens in every respect and allowed them to observe
their religion with complete freedom.
In
spite, or perhaps because of these freedoms, the community dwindled
until about one hundred and fifty years ago, when the assimilation
and integration proved complete. It is only in the past 20 years
that the descendents of Kaifeng Jewry, who now number about 1,000
people, have rediscovered their Jewish tradition. Some of them
have considered undergoing proper conversion and making aliyah,
and a few of them have done so already.
Thirty-year-old
Shi Lei does not try to hide his excitement when he takes his
guest, an Israeli journalist, to the central room in his parents'
home. His family, which is of Jewish descent, has lived in this
home for more than 100 years. After the death of his grandmother
and grandfather, Shi, together with his father, turned this room
into a mini-museum and a small Jewish center, where he gives classes
on Jewish tradition to children and adults of Jewish descent.
Shi
Lei, who graduated with a degree in English from the University
of Kaifeng, spent close to three years in Israel studying at Jerusalem's
Machon Meir and at Bar-Ilan University: "I was the first
person from Kaifeng that studied in Israel. I was privileged to
receive a wonderful welcome at the Machon Meir yeshiva, and I
was treated as a Jew in every respect, although I am not technically
a Jew according to Jewish law, and had not yet undergone conversion.
"I
decided to return to Kaifeng and to develop my mini-museum, because
if I would leave here then there would be no one to teach the
younger generation. We feel connected to the Jewish people and
to the State of Israel – it's in our blood."
An
emperor's welcome
It is not clear when exactly the first Jews came to China or when
the Jewish community in Kaifeng was formed. In the prophecy of
the redemption in the book of Isaiah it states: "See, they
will come from afar – some from the north, some from the
west, some from the region of Sinim ("Chinese")"
(Isaiah, 49:12); but biblical scholars agree that the verse does
not speak of China per se. Some claim that the Jews of Kaifeng
are descendents of the Ten Lost Tribes. Others theorize that they
came to China in the second century following the downfall of
the Jews in the Bar Kokhva revolt (132-135CE).
DNA
testing done over the past few years on the descendents of the
Kaifeng Jews, proved them distant relatives of Armenian, Iranian
and Iraqi Jews. Most of the researchers, as well as the Kaifeng
descendents themselves, tend to suggest that the original Jews
in China were merchants from Persia that came by way of the Silk
Route (in today's southern Turkey) to the city of Xian in central
China.
Historical
references and archaeological findings have proven that the Persian
Jews first arrive in China in the eighth century; and since the
long, difficult journey made family life difficult, the solution
was to establish a permanent base in China. The location of choice
was Kaifeng – China's capital from 927BC to 1127AD.
A
stone tablet dating back to the 1489 Kaifeng synagogue –
which is now in the city museum – in inscribed with the following:
"According to the commandment of their god, the Jews came
from Tian-Sho (Chinese for both "India" and "every
state to the west of China") with woven materials from the
west in their hands, meant as a gift for the emperor."
The
last emperor, according to the tablet was pleased with the beautiful
and said "welcome to our country; dwell here and keep the
customs of your ancestors".
The
emperor's warm welcome provided them with automatic Chinese citizenship,
not a trifle feat at a time the Jewish communities in Europe and
the Muslim countries were suffering persecution. It is believed
that one of the reasons for this show of tolerance was that the
Chinese of the time did not have a "religion" in the
sense of any of the three monotheistic faiths: The common practices
of faith based on the teachings of Chinese philosopher Confucius,
were an array of ethical and behavioral codes more than the belief
of religious ordinances commanded by a higher power.
While
each of the three monotheistic religions claims to state the absolute
truth god, Confucianism is willing peacefully coexist with any
religious belief. Kaifeng's Jews found it easy to adhere to Confucianism
since it doesn't require the recognition of a new Messiah or prophet
and there was no need to give up on the rules of keeping kosher
or observing the holidays.
The
ancient stone tablet also states that one of the emperors from the
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) bestowed "the gift of incense"
upon the Jewish community. It was given to the Jewish doctor Yung-Ching
who appears to have been his personal physician. This indicates
that Kaifeng's Jews used Chinese names rather than Hebrew names,
and incorporated a Chinese ceremony into their religious rituals
– the lighting of incense.
Eligible
bachelors
Kaifeng's Jews were away from any Jewish center, as they had no
contact to other Jewish communities around the world. At its peak,
the community numbered no more than 6,000 people. There was no
yeshiva and the young Jewish men that were interested in academic
studies naturally attended the local institutions, which cultivated
knowledge of Chinese literature and tradition. Given the circumstances,
the chances of the small, isolated Jewish community to maintain
its unique features in the hub of China were remote.
According
to researchers, another key to the demise of the Kaifeng community
lies in the fact that China was the first to allow all its residents
to join the top rank of government officials – the Mandarins
– by taking qualification exams.
Most
of the Jews in Kaifeng were proficient in Chinese and some also
in Hebrew, which gave them an advantage over most of the residents
in the empire; and so the number of Jewish descendents that applied
for the Beijing positions was substantially higher than their
actual representation in the population.
After
five years of study in the emperor's courtyard, they were sent
to various regions in the vast empire. If they hadn't married
during their years as students, they were certainly interested
in doing so when they began their government service, and as Mandarins,
whose careers were mapped out they were considered eligible bachelors.
Excluding Kaifeng, however, there were no eligible Jewish brides
to be found in China, prompting the assimilation further.
According
to the information available, the Jewish community life in Kaifeng
came to a virtual halt about 150 years ago. The community synagogue
existed for almost 700 years, until 1854, when Kaifeng was flooded
by the Huáng Hé – the Yellow River. It was
never rebuilt.
Although
Kaifeng's Jews had already completely assimilated, their descendants
continued to observe several customs, like keeping kosher and
keeping Shabbat. Many continue to live the old city in the old
section, and the Jewish names of two of the neighborhood's streets
still appear in Hebrew and English. The community is now slated
for an evacuation-renovation project, like many of its Chinese
counterparts.
Highly
regarded second-rate citizens
When Mao Zedong took over China in 1949, his regime faced several
dilemmas pertaining to national minorities, as 20% of China was,
and is, not dominated by the Han – the largest national group.
In 1953 the new regime decided to recognize 55 national minorities
but the Youtai – the Jews – were not one of them. Mao
was rumored to have made the decision personally.
By
that time, the majority of Jews living in Harbin and Shanghai
had already left China and the move was undoubtedly prompted by
this decision; but there is no doubt among scholars that the decision
had nothing to do with anti-Semitism, since China has never, to
this day, demonstrated any signs of anti-Semitism.
Jews
enjoy a very positive image in China. The decision not to recognize
them is believed to have stemmed from sheer math – they community
was simply too small – a few hundred in a country of a billion
people.
In
the 1980's, as China started moving toward a free-market economy
and opened up to the West, Jews from Canada and the US came to
Kaifeng and met with the old community's descendants in the city.
These visits strengthened the Jewish awareness of the descendants.
In
the last several years, Shavei Israel has been the main Jewish
organization that has been actively involved with the Kaifeng's
Jewish descendants. According to Michael Freund, an American Jew
who made aliyah 13 years ago and is now heads Shavei Israel, the
group is "the extended arm of the Jewish people, and supplements
the work of the Jewish Agency.
"We
believe that strengthening the connection with them should be
a top priority for Israel. Since establishing contact with the
Jews of Kaifeng, we have translated numerous books and articles
for them, and have provided them with basic materials on Judaism
and on Israel. Even more importantly, we have already assisted
10 young adults from the community to make aliyah and get settled
here in the country".
While
many of the descendants are interested in a much more intensive
connection with Jewish tradition, only a small group is interested
in immigrating to Israel and converting.
A
bull in a china shop?
As
of now, Shavei Israel's activities amongst the descendants of
the Kaifeng Jews do not enjoy the cooperation of any official
Israeli bureau. Freund frowns on what he calls Israel's ignoring
of the Kaifeng Jewry, and claims that that even though many of
the Jewish descendants of Kaifeng are interested in reconnecting
with Israel, the staff of the Israeli Embassy in Beijing refuse
to give them the time of day.
The
Foreign Ministry offered the following comment: "The Jewish
community in Kaifeng assimilated within its host country completely
by the 17th century. There is no Jewish community in Kaifeng today,
but some individuals are aware of having some Jewish lineage and
ancestry. Official Israeli delegates have visited Kaifeng more
than once and were impressed by the historical connection it has
to Jewish heritage."
The
careful diplomatic wording suggests Freund's claim is not completely
farfetched, but things are far from simple: Foreign relation analysts
warn that Freund and his organization are the proverbial "bull
in a china shop" and may potentially harm the diplomatic
relations between Israel and China.
"Russia
aside, China has a great deal of influence over Iran," a
foreign relation expert told Yedioth Ahronoth. "Israel has
to have China's assistant on the Iranian front, as well as in
an array of other political and financial issued on the international
community's level, where China is becoming a significant force.
"The
subject on national minorities in China is a very sensitive one,
because of the Tibet as well as due to the large Muslim minorities
which inhabit its west, where they border the Muslim republics
of the former Soviet Union," he continued. "The Chinese
government is wary of nationalistic movement which may turn separatists
and try to break away from it.
"Kaifeng's
Jews are no such threat, of course, but Beijing wants top maintain
the status-quo. The Israeli government can't and shouldn't upset
the Chinese government over such a delicate matter."
On
the ground, however, the Chinese authorities have yet to voice
any objection to Shavei Israel's activities in Kaifeng. Freund
sees that as a sign: "If some of Kaifeng's Jews decide to
reclaim their Jewish heritage – as I believe they will –
it would make for some very important and historical closure."
