The Chinese Jews of Kaifeng

A Millennium of Adaptation and Endurance

Anson H. Laytner, Jordan Paper

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Year: 2017
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781978773578
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Chinese History
• Index: History

This scholarly collection examines the origins, history, and contemporary nature of Chinese Judaism in the community of Kaifeng. These essays, written by a diverse, international team of contributors, explore the culture and history of this thousand-year-old Jewish community, whose synthesis of Chinese and Jewish cultures helped guarantee its survival. Part I of this study analyzes the origin and historical development of the Kaifeng community, as well as the unique cultural synthesis it engendered. Part II explores the contemporary nature of this Chinese Jewish community, particularly examining the community's relationship to Jewish organizations outside of China, the impact of Western Jewish contact, and the tenuous nature of Jewish identity in Kaifeng.

Table of contents

• Cover
• The Chinese Jews of Kaifeng
• The Chinese Jews of Kaifeng
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I
• Past
• Chapter 1
• Râdhânites, Chinese Jews, and the Silk Road of the Steppes
• Chapter 2
• Eight Centuries in the Chinese Diaspora
• Chapter 3
• Kaifeng Jews Revisited
• Chapter 4
• The Confucianization of the Chinese Jews
• Chapter 5
• The Old Testament and Biblical Figures in Chinese Sources
• Chapter 6
• The Issue of the Jewishness of the Chinese Jewish Magistrates
• Chapter 7
• Zhao Yingcheng from Fact to Fiction
• Part II
• Present
• Chapter 8
• A History of Early Jewish Interactions with the Kaifeng Jews
• Chapter 9
• Delving into the Israelite Religion of Kaifeng
• Chapter 10
• Identity Discourse and the Chinese-Jewish Descendants
• Chapter 11
• Bringing Our Lost Brethren Back Home
• Chapter 12
• Between Survival and Revival
• Chronology of China Relevant to Judaism in Kaifeng1
• Recommended Further Readings
• Index
• About the Contributors