Jews in China

We shall now sum up the different opinions as regards the arrival of the Jews on Chinese soil.

The missionaries reported that the Jews believe, according to a tradition, that their ancestors came to China during the Han dynasty, viz. 58–76 a.d., from Persia; indeed, we shall see further on that the Jews in China were familiar with the Persian language. At the time of the emperor Hsian-tsung (1163–1190), seventy families were settled in Kai-fung-fu, and, as has already been noted, in the last century they formed a congregation of 500 to 600 members, with a rabbi at their head. Since the demise of the late rabbi (who died forty or fifty years ago at Hang-tshou), the congregation has been dissolved, and the Hebrew language forgotten to such an extent that none of their number now know even the Hebrew alphabet. They do not observe the precepts of the Law, they intermarry with Chinese, and have scarcely any notion of the Jewish feasts. No doubt unless a Jewish Society take the matter up, as was the case with the Bene Israel in India, all trace of Judaism will disappear.

Their books consist of the Pentateuch, Prayer-book, and, according to the first Roman Catholic missionary, they also possess Apocryphal books in Aramaic, viz. the first book of the Maccabees, Judith, and Sirach (see James Finn, The Jews in China [London: 1843], p. 32). Of the last three no trace has thus far been found among the Chinese Jews whilst Pentateuchal scrolls or books, as well as fragments of Prayer-books of all kinds, are preserved in the Library of the Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews. These last were kindly sent to us by the Rev. Secretary W. Gidney for inspection, and we are happy to acknowledge with cordial thanks this courtesy. This collection consists of twenty-nine numbers, which were described, with some degree of accuracy, in the Jewish Intelligence, January, 1853. This description was reprinted, without acknowledgment, in the London Jewish Chronicle, 1853, Nos. 356 and 358. From this source [Leopold] Zunz (Die Ritus des synagogalen Gottesdienstes, 1859, p. 58) derived his information concerning the rite of the Jews in China, which, according to him, resembles that of the Sephardim, with the exception of some points wherein the Ashkenazic rite is followed. We believe the ritual of the Jews at Kai-fung-fu will prove to be the Persian rite, which is almost unknown. The little we know of it inclines us to the belief that it is more nearly akin to the Ashkenazic than the Sephardic rite, which is also the case with the Yemen rite, exclusive of the hymns which were incorporated at a later period in the Yemen Siddur.

That the Chinese Jews came from Persia cannot be doubted, for all directions as to the recital of their prayers are given in Persian. In the case of אתה גאלת in the haggadah (see below, p. 137, no. e), which, as Zunz has rightly guessed is that composed by S^eadyah Gaon, each strophe is completely rendered in Persian. The colophons at the ends of the sections of Pentateuch are also in Persian (see below pp. 137, 138, nos. a, f ). The inscription of their synagogue contains Persian phrases (see J. Finn’s The Orphan Colony of Jews in China [London: 1872], p. 65). Graetz (Geschichte der Juden, 2nd ed., vol. IV, [Leipzig: 1865], 407) states, without giving his reasons, that the Jews in China date from 230 a.d. He relied perhaps on the tradition of the Jews in Kai-fung-fu, who told Dr. [William Alexander Parsons] Martin that they came to China under the Han dynasty (202 b.c. to 220 a.d.): that seems to be a mere tradition, not based on any documentary evidence. From inscriptions found in the ruined synagogue at Kai-fung-fu we learn that it was erected in 1163–1165, and repaired in 1488–1506. This is in accordance with the document which says, that under the emperor Hsian-tsung seventy Jewish families immigrated (Möllendorf [“Die Juden in China,” Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judenthums, vol. 39 (1895)], p. 328). [ . . . ]

From these dates, it seems that at the beginning of the seventeenth century a restoration of the synagogue of Kai-fung-fu took place, when the Pentateuch was re-copied by several persons, of whom many bear the title of השליחה, “the messenger.” From whence did those come to China, or is השליחה simply “the messenger of God”? Perhaps when the Persian passages which occur in the translation of liturgies and those in the colophons of the Pentateuch fragments will be correctly read and explained, we may hope to advance in the knowledge of the history of this scattered colony. We may mention that Professor D. S. Margoliouth intends to publish them with an English translation and a philological commentary. Meanwhile we have to thank Dr. Paul Horn, of the Strasburg University, for some hints given to us. It is certain the Persian Jews had a ritual and literature of their own which we at present know only through a few MSS. of the Bibliothèque Nationale, the British Museum, and in the Imperial Library of St. Petersburg.